Turnabout Justice
by SharadaGirl
Summary: Part 3: Phoenix and Apollo have to unravel the mystery surrounding a tragedy that happened in prison four years ago to protect Maya from yet another plot on her life.
1. Pt 1: What the hell is going on?

_Author's Note_: Do not own Ace Attorney Franchise. I wish I did. But I don't. I technically own Lucky, though.

WHOOOP! Chapter story! It's gonna be long, if I remember to keep updating it. Already into the beginning of Chapter Three, and have a rough outline of the whole story. And Polly will be narrating for the majority of the story. Oh, also very Gumshoe/Maggey for the first bunch of chapters.

...I hate the title. But it was all I could think of.

--

"GO POLLY, THE CLIENT'S FATE IS IN YOUR HANDS...!" Trucy screamed as she pushed me off the bus. That was really unnecessary, seeing that I was about to step off, however Trucy was about to go visit Mr. Wright in the hospital, and I'm guessing she needed to see me get hurt at least once today. Like I wasn't going to the hospital afterwards, and of course, Mr. Wright would be perfectly fine by then. The man is pretty much indestructible. He got sent flying 30 feet by a car, hit his head on a lamppost, and what'd he get? A sprained ankle. And, of course, other things have happened to him, some way worse. Honestly, after reading some of his old court files, he's taken worse beatings than the murder victims. How is this guy not dead yet?!

_Get a grip on yourself, Justice. Stop with the run-on sentences and self-questions_. I thought as I picked myself up off the sidewalk. That was when Trucy threw the Court Record (Which was currently her weirdly shaped bag,) at my head, and the bus-doors closed and sped off. I murmured a few things (mostly cursing the Wrights) under my breath. Why me? I just woke up, and Trucy started yelling gibberish about shooting and clients and court and a gummy shoe. When I begged her to slow down and let go of my hair, by which she was dragging me out the door by, she glared at me.  
"DADDY'S BEEN SHOT! YOU GOTTA TAKE HIS PLACE IN COURT!" She screamed so close to my face, I swear she spat on me a little.

"MR. WRIGHT'S BEEN SHOT?!" I screamed back, equally loud and in-your-face to her. Mr. Wright had recently gotten his badge back, (mostly due to uncovering the whole Kristoph Gavin plot, including proving his innocence from the forgery, and the basic fact that Phoenix Wright was, undeniably, the greatest defence attorney back in the day. Somehow, though, I doubt that you can put that as an answer to the bar exam...) and immediately took a murder case, which he said involved some old friends. "IS HE OKAY?!"

Trucy nodded overly fast. "It was a drive by, but it was only two to the left shoulder." Why wasn't she more surprised by this? Actually... Why wasn't I? "He's in the hospital, and you gotta save our client!"

"Okay! Okay!" I said. And now here I am, in the Defendant's Lobby No. 2. After being there for two and a half minutes, a strange man came running at me.

"HEY PAL! WHERE'S MR. WRIGHT?!" He yelled, and started shaking me.

"RELAX!" I yelled. I think I've been yelling more today than I would have if I got to do my Chords of Steel practice like normal today. "DUE TO UNFORSEEN CIRCUMSTANCES, I WILL BE DEFENDING YOU TODAY!"

The man stared at me strangely, and stepped back. He was wearing an old detective's coat, a couple spikes in his dark brown hair going to his right, he had a small beard, a band-aid on his cheek and a pencil in his ear. Under the detective's coat seemed to be... Chef's clothes. And, on top of all that, there was a little boy, about...Five? Six maybe?- Sitting on his shoulders. He had lightish brown hair, but the exact same hairstyle as the man. The kid was holding onto the man's ears' for his life, it looked like. And he had on a Blue Badger shirt. Huh. That's getting pretty popular now, isn't it?

"What? I'm not the defendant. Maggey is, pal!" He exclaimed. A little of his spit landed on my forehead. Gross.

"Pops, is this the spikey-haired lawyer guy you an' Ma got for Ma?" The little boy asked. "The good one who saved Ma all those times? He don't look like a lawyer." As if my ego didn't suffer enough from living on Trucy and Mr. Wright's sofa after I couldn't afford my own apartment.

"As I said," I cleared my throat, "Mr Wright... Can't be here today... So I will be lawyering for you." _Lawyering for you._ Nice one, Justice. "What happened?"

The man looked at me in despair. "My Maggey's been accused of murder again. Mr. Wright promised he'd prove her innocent for the third time." He looked ready to cry. "This can't be good for her. Her fourth trial. She already went off the deep end a little bit when Lucky was born. Poor girl shouldn't have this much stress."

I had to ask. "What was the other reason? The other time she was in court?"

He looked at me strangely, shook his head, and said (as if any moron would understand), "Murder. The first time of the middle two trials, she was found guilty," The man seemed worked up, "Because the real murderer faked being Mr. Wright and tried to pin it on Maggey, Pal!"

Wow. This woman is unlucky. _Wait- Maggey? Fake Mr. Wright? I think I read a case file about that... Or did he tell Trucy a bedtime story about it?_

Mr. Wright versus 'Xin Eoph', as was written in some horrible hand writing onto the side (along with Steel Samurai doodles and a glowing green nine) of the case report. His impersonator. A man poisoned another man for a computer virus so he could pay back a Mob Boss for his grandkid's operation (which the Fake caused the accident in which she needed the operation for) and posed as Mr. Wright to ensure a waitress with Trumped-Up charges would get it. _Then this man must be the old detective that popped up in every one of Mr. Wright's cases. The dumb one who couldn't even say he got paid in peanuts because peanuts would be worth more than that guy got._

"Er... Who are you again?" I asked, embarrassed. I pushed my hair back as I said it.

"Dick Gumshoe, Pal!" He stated proudly. "Father of Lucky Gumshoe, Husband of Maggey Gumshoe, and the chef at _A la Shoe_, the best restaurant in the town, pal!" Right after he said that, the kid fell off his shoulders. "LUCKY!"

Lucky's eyes seemed like swirls, and he managed to sway as he propped himself up on his elbows. "I see canaries, Pops. Make them go away. The yellow's to bright."

That's when the defendant, who had been being held by the bailiff, ran over. "LUCKY! Lucky?! ARE YOU OKAY SON?!" She screamed. The woman had brown hair, the same shade as the little kid. She had a french maid outfit with, of course, the Blue Badger on the front. "LUCKY! SPEAK TO ME!!" She had started shaking the little boy by the shoulders.

"MA! I'M! OKAY! I'M! OKAY!" The woman stopped shaking her son and pulled him into a hug.

"OHLUCKYILOVEYOUANDI'MSCAREDBUTSOAREYOUBUTMAMA'SGONNABEALRIGHTCAUSEMRWRIGHT-"

"-Isn't here." I finished. She looked up at me, letting go of her son (he had started turning purple from lack of oxygen from his mother's hug,) she started freaking out.

"OMIGAWD, IS HE DEAD?! DID MY BAD LUCK GET HIM KILLED, TOO? NO! NOT MR. WRIGHT!" She screamed and fell to her knees in hysterics. Her husband rubbed her back and was trying to console her, and blubbered random things that I couldn't catch. Meanwhile, her son had finally stopped seeing the little birds and could breath normally.

"Mr. Wright's fine!" I exclaimed. She looked up at me expectantly. "He's just... Hospitalized... Stop crying... It makes me uncomfortable..." I mumbled less and less audible with each word. I cleared my throat and made sure to speak up. "I'm Apollo Justice, his... Apprentice?" Was that the right word? Anyway, she looked up at me hopelessly.

"I'm going to jail, aren't I?" Before I could take offense, the doors to the hallway outside the defendant's lobby opened with an BANG!

"_**WHERE THE HELL IS HE?!**_" Screamed a female voice. Anyone who had not looked at the door before had now. There stood a woman a little shorter than me, and she was pissed. She had strange, long black hair with a top-knot, bangs, and a section in the front with beads at the bottom of her hair on either side of her head. She had on an off-white robe-like dress with a purple jacket and a giant pink ribbon tied into a bow around her waist. "THE TRIAL'S ABOUT TO START!" She stormed over to me and the Gumshoes'.

"Top-Knot...!" Mr. Gumshoe exclaimed. "You're here?!"

"Of course," she retorted. "Stop calling me Top-Knot. And where is he?" She glared at the detective. He shrunk back a bit, possibly fearing the wrath of the strange woman.

"You were nicer when you were a kid."

"Just tell me where the hell Nick is." She spat. She looked down and saw the defendant kneeling on the ground. "Maggey? Are you okay?" The woman kneeled beside her. "Are you sick or something? I'm sure Nick could postpone the trial if you're ill..."

"Mr.-Mr. Wright's..." Maggey sobbed. The woman looked from her, to Mr. Gumshoe, then to me.

"You," She pointed at me. Her face was almost as cold as her voice. She... Scared me a bit. "He's in the hospital again, isn't he?"

"Y-Y-Yes...?" I stammered. Who's this Nick guy? "You-You're talking about Mr. Wright, right?"

The woman rolled her eyes at me. "Of course I am. Nick is indestructible. Unlucky, accident-prone, but indestructable. He'll never die. Besides," there was an absent-minded smirk on her face. "Even if he did die, I wouldn't let him rest."

This woman is really creeping me out.

"So where's your assistant?" She questioned, getting up and pulling Maggey up.

"Huh?" I was positive there was a dumbfounded look on my face.

"You're Nick's replacement, right?" She asked. Her face was less angry now. She wasn't smiling, though. It was a strange smirk. "He wouldn't postpone a trial for himself. He got Mr. Edgeworth to travel half-way across the world to defend Iris after the bridge accident, he'd have no problem getting 'The Great Apollo Justice,'" She made air quotes for my name, "To substitute for him while he's hurt. So where's your assistant?"

"How do you know my name?" I asked. Who the hell IS this woman?

"Ah, aren't you supposed to be smart? Nick told me." My ego's been suffering a lot lately. "He keeps bragging about you as if you were his genius son or something. Then I counter with bragging about Pearly, then he pulls out Trucy to brag about, then I just make up a name and say they're the best pupil my school's ever seen." She nodded. "And then we argue over who cheated more in our bragging contest. Then we talk about burgers or the Steel Samurai or Mia or something." She smiled absentmindedly.

"Uh... Who are you...?" I asked. She smirked, opened her mouth to talk, and then-

"The trials about to begin." The Bailiff declared.

"Well, Kid." She said. "Get ready." She said, then turned to Mr. Gumshoe and Lucky. "Maggey'll be fine. Nick wouldn't send some shmuck to defend Maggey."

"What? How do you know?" The elder of the two asked.

"It's Nick we're talking about here. Has he ever not found the truth? Even when it took seven years and his job?" He looked thoughtful for a moment. Maggey was already in the defendant's seat as he looked at her.

"She didn't do it."

"And that fact alone will save her." the woman stated, nodding to Mr. Gumshoe. She turned to me. "Well, kid. Tell me about the trial?"

"What?"

"Trial." She said, looking at me like I was an idiot. "Who's the victim?" I rummaged around the court record until I found it.

"...A man named Jack Rabbit. He was shot in the heart twice. Estimated time of death is about seven thirty." I said, reading the autopsy report.

"And...?"

"And what?"

"Anything else?" She asked, irritated.

"Oh-" I looked at the Records again. "He apparently dine-and-dashed at the Gumshoe's restaurant, spat at another man in the restaurant, harassed the defendant, and smacked her kid." I said, reading off a piece of paper listing the things Jack Rabbit did at _A la Shoe_ in near-impossible to read writing. Mr. Wright should consider becoming a doctor with his crappy handwriting.

"You ready, Kid?" She questioned, putting one hand on her hip.

"No."

"Too bad. The trials about to start." She smiled. "You'll do fine."

I had to ask. "Uh... Who are you, again?"

She looked at me strangely, then smiled mysteriously. "You'll find out." She stated and walked into the court. _Wait... Why's she going in there?_

This is going to be one _hell_ of a trial.

--

_Authors note_: Constructive Criticism appreciated. Please review.


	2. The Trial Begins!

I was about to walk into the Court Room when someone called my name.

"Justice!" I turned around. Everyone's favourite Scientific Detective was waving a sheet of paper at me as she ran over. "Special delivery from Mr. Wright!"

"Thanks, Detective." I said as she handed me the paper. Without looking at it, I slipped it into the Court Record.

"Aren't you gonna read it?" I could see her had twitching at her Snackoo's bag, itching to throw one at me.

"Detective Skye, he's gotten inventive on ways to get me to pay his utility bills." I stated, my eye twitching a little, remembering the last way he got it to me. That was the worst breakfast ever.

"But he said it would be the breaking evidence in the case!" Detective Skye exclaimed.

"He said that about his water bill at my last trial, too. And it didn't help any."

She snackoo'd me.

"Just get into the damn Court Room, Justice." Well, at least Prosecutor Gavin's not heading this trial. If so, the Court Room would end up filled with Snackoos.

"You can do it, Apollo. It's Justice Time!" I stated confidently to myself, and walked in.

--

The gallery rumbled behind me. I didn't notice much. I was busy staring at the defendant and her crying child.  
"Ma's gonna be okay, Lucky." Maggey stated with false confidence. "Dick," she turned to her husband with worried eyes. "Are you sure you two should watch this...?"

"Ahem."

"And miss a chance to object if they be mean to you?" The ex Detective asked, looking genuinely surprised.

"AHEM."

"Dick, don't get help in contempt again-"

"Court is now in session." The judge declared. "Detective Gumshoe, please take your seat."

"Actually, pal... I'm not a detective no more." It killed me a little inside that noone noticed his double negative. "Maggey's my wife..."

"Congratulations." The judge smiled mindlessly.

"Your Honour...? Can we start now?" Asked an over-confident looking Winston Payne. He shook his head and hair.

"Right. Mr. Payne, Mr... Justice?" The Judge looked at me. "I was under the impression this would be Mr. Wright's first trial after his... Break..." He shifted uncomfortably in his high-chair. Obviously from speaking of the fake evidence Mr. Wright unknowingly presented which cost him his badge.

"Mr. Wright is in the Hospital." I stated, ignoring the judge's fidgeting.

"Really? What happened?"

"Your Honour, this is irrelevant-" Payne started. The judge shook his head.

"Overruled. I wanna know what happened," He leaned in expectantly.

I drew in a breath "He-"

"Mr. Wright is stable. That is all that matters." A voice rang out into the Court from next to me. I turned and saw the black haired woman, holding the paper Detective Skye had handed me before. I quickly checked the Court Records. Gone. There was a smirk playing on her lips. Her eyes were bright, and she was leaning against the wall. The judge seemed to recognize her.

"Ms. Fey...?" The judge questioned.

"Which one?" The smirk grew. "There have been many Fey's involved in your court, Your Honour." She chuckled.

"What was is... Maya Fey?" He guessed, seeming to dig deep into his memory.

"The one and only." She stated proudly.

"I thought you died." Payne said, surprised. Ms. Fey's expression turned venomous, and she started twitching.

"No; That was MIA. And mom... And Dahlia. And Aunt Morgan." She stated, rattling off her dead family members. "Did I forget anyone?" She did not seem the least bit fazed by counting the dead. She seemed like she was actually doing an algebra question in math class. She had a thoughtful look on her face and stated another name. "Iris." My bracelet started going crazy when Ms. Fey said the last one. "She... Had an... Accident in jail." ...I would not want to be related to this woman. "Anyway, Nick's fine. Proceed with the trial." _She made a quick recovery,_ I thought. The judge nodded.

"Mr. Payne, your opening statement?"

"Simple, really." He paused. "SHE DID IT!" He pointed at the woman in the defendant's chair. A child burst out crying in the gallery.

"MA DIDN'T DO IT!"

"PLEASE CALM DOWN, PAL!" I rubbed my temples as the Judge pounded his gavel. I heard snickering from my side.

"I missed this."

"Ms. Fey...""I almost forgot how insane this Court could get."

"Ms. Fey," I started. I had a feeling she would make this Trial hard for me. "What are you doing?"

She smiled. "Being your assistant." She stated simply. "Trust me, Kid."

Payne cleared his throat. "Anyway, the only woman who could murder an innocent stranger like this is the defendant." Maggey stuck her tongue out at Mr. Payne immaturely as he gestured to him. "She had opportunity, motive, and a weapon with her prints on it," He stated. "Furthermore, the Prosecution has a decisive witness."

"Motive?" I questioned. I decided to ignore the witness for a moment. "How could she have a motive if he was a stranger? You just said so yourself."

"He dine and dashed, caused another diner discomfort, harassed the defendant, and most of all," Payne smiled and shook his hair, "He smacked around her kid." The gallery gasped. I silently cursed myself. Ms. Fey made me tell her all this right before the trial.

"Do you honestly call harassment, child abuse and theft innocent, Mr. Payne?" I questioned, trying to make this less worse for me. Anyway, this guy is already contradicting himself.

"At least he didn't kill anyone!"

"_OBJECTION_! You don't know that!" I yelled, using my Chords of Steel. I looked over nervously at my 'Assistant.' Her shoulders drooped, and she had a tired, annoyed expression.

"You're supposed to wait until later to embarrass yourself, Kid." The judge banged his gavel.

"Mr. Payne! On with your opening statement."

"Anyways," He started, "A report was received at 7:00 about a gunshot. The police arrived at 7:31, and found the defendant passed out in the alley indicated by the witness, next to the victim. There was a knife in her hands, covered in the victim's blood." Payne had shown a bloody knife, and a black-and-white picture of a man with three holes, one being larger than the other two, in his shirt. Large, dark stains were near the holes, all from the right side of his chest. Why aren't there ever any color crime scene photos?

"The Court accepts these into evidence." The judge stated. "Please call your first witness, Mr. Payne."  
I looked over at Ms. Fey again. She was staring intently at the picture.

"There are so many contradictions already in this case, and noone's even been up to the stand yet." She mumbled. I sighed. Yup. Nothing made sense. I groaned slightly as Detective Skye happily skipped onto the Stand.

"Name and Occupation, Please."

"Ema Skye. Scientific Detective in charge of the homicide investigations." She chirped. The thought that Prosecutor Gavin wasn't here seemed to fill her with joy. "And I will Scientifically prove that Maggey Byrde Gumshoe murdered Jack Rabbit." She stated confidently and crossed her arms across her chest. It disturbed me how happy Detective Skye was.

I think I prefer her munching on her Snackoo's and threatening to throw acid on everyone.


	3. Situs Inversimawhat?

Author's Note: Quick update. It's a bit shorter than usual, but meh. Felt like I needed to upload something what with no school tomorrow. Also, I forgot this (Author's Note, Disclaimer, etc) in the last chapter. Blah blah blah, Capcom owns all.

--

Ema started her testimony.

_"Two nights ago, we got a report of a Bang._

_It was exactly Seven P.M. when we received the call._

_The person to report it said that it sounded more like a firecracker, disturbing the peace, so we could take our time getting there._

_Once we were there, the defendant was found, passed-out next to the victim, holding the bloody knife."_

The detective smirked slightly, unnoticed by everyone but me.

The judge nodded twice. "Mr. Justice, your cross-examination, please." I nodded, and pushed back my sleeves a bit more.

I had to focus on Ema's testimony. As Detective Skye retold the part about the bang, I stopped her.

"**Hold it**!" I screamed. Ema looked slightly surprised.

"Nice one, kid!" Ms. Fey exclaimed, looking like an excited little kid. "I haven't heard a 'Hold it!' like that since Nick...!"

"..." I shook it off. Detective Skye's testimony. Detective Skye's testimony. "A Bang?"

"A Bang." She confirmed. "You know, BANG! Like the bangs we heard when that Interpol agent got off'd at the Glimmerous Fop's concert." I nodded. A bang. _A_ bang. Not plural, just _a _bang. Detective Skye is too precise to say 'a' instead of 'two'. Seeing that there were two bullets in the guy's heart, that already struck me as odd. "Continue."

"It was exactly Seven P.M. when we received the call." It was killing me, but I didn't press. Not yet. I let her speak until her last statement. I rummaged in the Court Records until I found it, and accordingly slammed my balled-up fists into the desk.

"**OBJECTION**!" I glanced to my side. My 'assistant' was grinning crazily in her seat. She was holding back cheering, it looked.

"What could be wrong with that statement?" Payne questioned.

"This." I stated confidently, holding out the Bloody Knife. Ema's eyes lit up.

"No other prints were found on that knife. And it's all the victim's blood. And there is no blood wiped off. I checked." She smiled, incredibly proud of herself.

"That's not the problem." I said, twiddling the Bloody Knife in my fingers. "The problem is..." I thought for a second, and smirked. "...Its not a gun."

"Of _course_ it's not a gun!" Payne interjected. "A knife is a knife, and a gun is a gun. Only a moron couldn't tell this isn't a gu-_GWAA_!" He exclaimed, literally jumping back.

"I take you got the contradiction?" I crossed my arms across my chest.

"I...Don't get it." The judge said meekly. "Detective, please explain." Said detective started rummaging around the Court Records until she found the Autopsy report.

"The victim was shot. Not stabbed." Detective Skye said. "Only a moron would say the knife is the murder weapon."

"Then why," I asked, "Would Maggey be the main suspect?" I expected the detective to start munching on her Snackoo's. She didn't.

"He was stabbed after being shot. A bit overkill, if you ask." She smirked. "Jack Rabbit was stabbed in the heart almost immediately after being shot. And as you know, she was holding the knife. What would you think, Justice?"

_Wait_... "What happened to the gun?" Detective Skye squirmed a little at the stand.

"We coudn-"

"**HOLD IT**!" Rang through the court by a female voice. I looked to my side to see Ms. Fey standing defiantly, Mr. Wright's note clutched in her hand. "The gun is currently irrelevant," she stated. "Back to the knife."

"M-Ms. Fey?!" I exclaimed, somewhat startled. "What was that abo-"

"_Back. To. The knife_." She spat. I looked from her, to a somewhat relieved Detective Skye, to Prosecutor Payne, whom looked just about as confused as me.

"But the murder wea-"

"Focus on _the knife_." She said, and glared venomously at Payne. He shrank back, and mumbled something about my 'Assistant' being scary and should be held in contempt.

"Well, Mr. Justice?" Detective Skye asked. I snapped back to paying attention to her. "Anything else on the matter of the knife?"

"Not directly related to the knife, but..." I sighed. This had been bugging me for a while. I took out the crime scene photo, and pointed to the victim's stab and bullet wounds. "Why are the wounds on the right side of the victim's chest? It has been clearly stated several times that he was shot and stabbed in his heart, yet a normal person's heart is on the left side." She smirked and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Now, now Justice. Are you saying people with _Situs Inverses_ are not normal?"

"_Situs_ Inverismawhat?" Ms. Fey smartly questioned.

"_Situs Inverses_. It's a condition where all your major organs are a mirror reflection of how they are usually in the human body." Detective Skye munched thoughtfully on some Snackoo's. "You shoulda seen the Coroner's face when he sliced Jack Rabbit open. He freaked out," she laughed.

_Note to self,_ I thought. _Detective Skye has somewhat twisted humor._

_--_

_Author's Note_: _Situs Inverses_ is a real condition. I don't think I spelled the 'Inverses' part right, though. My spell check is messed up. Please reveiw. Constructive Criticism accepted!


	4. Noone said anything about that!

_Author's note_: Sorry for not updating sooner. School and too many assignments, friends, Art Class (which I am much better at than writing), laziness, being sick and a touch of writer's block are my scapegoats.

Disclaimer: Do not own Ace Attorney, Phoenix Wright or Apollo Justice. I'm getting the manga for my birthday though. Which is in three months. And my friend already got it for me, so I can't read it until then.

...Dammit.

Another short chapter. Sorry. (This one is _incredibly_ short.)

--

A small hole. But a hole, none-the-less. A hole that, if exploited enough, can be the downfall of the prosecution's argument. Ms Fey cleared her throat.

"Your Honor, I request that the witness add this to her testimony." She stated.

"Huh- Hey! Objection! I'm supposed to say that!" I cried and slammed my fists onto the desk. The judge looked confused as Ms. Fey snickered.

"So what does the defense want?" He asked. Payne and Detective Skye both snickered along with Ms. Fey, whom I gave a dirty look. She didn't notice, however, and continued to crack up.

"..._Whatshesaid_." I splurred out to quickly. I sweated slightly from the embarrassment. "Just add the freakin' disease to your Testimony, Detective." Detective Skye smirked and touched the rims of her glasses.

"Condition, Justice. It's a condition." She smiled irritatingly.

"The victim, Jack Rabbit, had a condition called Situs Inversus, where all your major organs of on the opposite side of where they usually are." She stated, and munched on her Snackoo's.

"**HOLD IT**!" I screamed. Next to me, Ms. Fey had a small laugh attack from giddiness...

Mr. Wright has weird friends.

I shook it off. "Is this condition noticeable? As in, would a complete stranger be able to tell if someone had Situs Inversus?" I questioned the detective. She shook her head.

"Nope." She said simply. I inwardly smirked as I listened to her entire testimony until she got back to her statement about Jack Rabbit's condition.

"**OBJECTION**!" I screamed at the top of my lungs and banged my fists onto the table. Ms. Fey let out a whoop and a _'Ya Kid_!' I took out Ms. Gumshoe's profile and practically shoved it into Payne's face. "What did you say before?" I asked the old man across from me. "During your opening statement."

"Why..." He began, playing with his hair over-confidently, "I Said: The only woman who could murder an... Innocent... _Stranger_... _Like this_... GAH!" Payne seemed to fly back. I nodded my head.

"Exactly." I stated and crossed my arms confidently. "Ms. Maggey Gumshoe did not know the defendant, so therefore she could not know where his heart would be! She wouldn't shoot and stab a man on the right side of his chest if she was trying to kill him!"

"Wrong." Detective Skye said and chewed on a Snackoo. I almost fell over.

"_WRONG_?! HOW IS THAT WRONG?!" I yelled. Ms. Fey snickered.

"We believe there was a confrontation," The detective started. "In self defense, it would not matter where she would shoot or stab to get away."

"_WHY IS THIS THE FIRST I'M HEARING OF THIS?!_" I shouted. Ms. Fey fell over from the shock of my loudness.

"Quiet down, Kid. I'm sure Nick just forgot to tell you..." She rubbed her head. "...Your loud." She laughed. I'm not completely sure what she found funny.

"I believe I should testify about The fight...?" Detective Skye asked. The judge banged his gavel and nodded.

"Yes, please tell us about this fight." He said. I hit my head on the desk.

This is slowly going from good to bad to worse.

--

_Author's Note_: This is too damn short! But it's leading into important stuff, and I felt I had to upload _something_. Again, I have a bit of writer's block. Which sucks. Constructive Criticism appreciated.


	5. Nick would never screw up that much!

_Author's Note_: Whoop! This chapter's at least twice as long as the last chapter!

Disclaimer: Capcom owns the Ace Attorney series. No suing, please. And I am aware of the crappy joke.

_Author's note 2.0_: Forgot to Italicize and bold stuff in this chapter when I originally posted it. Sorry!

--

Once again, Detective Skye started her testimony.

_"The man had made a large fuss at the restaurant._

_Mr. and Ms. Gumshoe intended to call the police, but the victim fled before they could call._

_Being an ex-cop, an angry mother, and the victim of dine and dash, the Defendant chased after him._

_When she caught up with him at the crime scene, he turned and confronted her._

_This was confirmed with bruises on the back of the defendant's head and some on her arms._

_The knife belonged to the victim."_ Ema added as an after thought.

"Incidentally, the hit on the back of the head is what knocked the defendant out." Payne stated, reading off a piece of paper.

I'll admit it. I'm pissed. "Why haven't I heard of this before?!" I shouted and hit the desk. Payne looked tickled pink by my frustration.

"Heh heh heh. Maybe your mentor Mr. Wright is slipping, and either did not know or forgot to tell you." He chuckled. Ms. Fey glared at him while Detective Skye open-fired at the old prosecutor, her ammunition Snackoos.

"Nick would never screw up that much! He's already got it all figured out and he isn't even here!" Ms. Fey shouted, then quickly covered her mouth with her hand. Detective Skye looked at her in horror. Ms. Gumshoe seemed to be mentally celebrating in her seat.

"WHOOOP! HEAR THAT LUCKY, MA'S GONNA BE FINE!"

"YAAAY!" Two familiar voices called out from the gallery. I shook my head as the judge banged his gavel.

"Order! Leave the celebrating until after Ms. Gumshoe goes free!" The judge declared. Prosecutor Payne started blabbering nonsense about 'not declaring a verdict prematurely,' and 'Wright's not that good.' Ms. Fey stuck her tongue out at the old man opposing us. "Mr. Justice," The Judge addressed me, "Start your cross-examination, please."

I nodded. "Yes, your honor." I could easily build a self-defense case from this information, but something in the back of my head nagged that was not it. Maggey Gumshoe did not kill anyone. I pressed her on everything up until the confrontation part. So far, no dice. Or contradictions.

"...And that's why she quit the force." Payne concluded. I shook myself awake.

"You're done talking?" I asked. He glared at me before Detective Skye continued with her testimony.

"When she caught up with him at the crime scene, he turned and confronted her."

"**HOLD IT!**" I yelled. Another small outburst of happiness came from Ms. Fey, and then I continued. "Why would he confront her? I mean, he was ahead of her, right?" I asked. Snackoo'd in the face.

"We don't freakin' know." Ema spat angrily. "Maybe she was faster than him?" Somehow, I found that hard to believe. Ms. Gumshoe started fidgeting from the Defendant's chair, biting her lip. Ms. Fey tried to discreetly shuffle over to the defendant and started to whisper to each other. I considered making them share whatever they were talking about, but held back. "They were in a deserted alley, and it was dark. He probably thought he was near a dead-end and decided to fight. Back to their fight. Anyway," She sighed, being somewhat annoyed, and continued. "This was confirmed with bruises on the back of the defendant's head."

Wait... "**HOLD IT!**"

"WHOOP!" Ms. Fey once again shouted. I turned to her.

"Are you gonna do that every time I yell 'Hold it' or 'Objection?'" I asked. She looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded.

"Deal with it. I haven't been a lawyer's assistant in about four years."

"Didn't Mr. Wright quit law eight years ago?"

"Shut up and get back to work, Kid!" She growled. My bracelet was going off the chart. I really hope she isn't this nervous when I need to perceive something. I shook my head. Detective Skye's testimony.

"...Anyway, Detective Skye," I addressed the woman on the stand. She smiled and touched her glasses.

"Yes?"

"The bruises."

"What about them?"

"They are on the back of the defendant's head?" I touched my forehead and smiled slightly. She nodded.

"Some are."

"But the defendant was chasing the witness?" She nodded again.

"Correct."

"How is this possible?"

"They fight; he is almost killed; she turns to leave; he hits her over the head before he dies." She said. "Simple, really." The detective munched on her Snackoos thoughtfully. "At least that's what we think happened."

"What do you think about that, Kid?" Ms. Fey asked, touching her face thoughtfully. "I mean, is that possible?" I thought for a moment.

"...No." I stated after a while. "That's impossible." I scratched my head. Ms. fey had to be right; Mr. Wright figured everything out. He has a plan. I just have to carry it out.

"The defense requests that the statement be added to the testimony." Ms. Fey declared for me. I didn't object to her stealing the spotlight this time. Detective Skye nodded.

"We believe that at some point during the fight, Jack Rabbit was shot by the defendant. She turned to run away, but he hit her over the head hard enough to make her pass out before he died."

Once again, I looked through the court record. Found it.

"**OBJECTION!**" I hit the desk. for what had to be the millionth time, Ms. Fey cheered. I sighed and took out the bloody knife. "Detective Skye..." I started. She looked at me blankly "...That one statement contradicts so many things, a scientific detective such as yourself would never say something like that." She almost looked disappointed for a moment as she crunched on her Snackoos. "...You know what I'm talking about, right?"

"I don't." The judge said, openly confused.

"Two shots to the heart, and he wouldn't be able to stand," Detective Skye sighed. "Much less hit someone over the head and able to knock them out." She glared down into her Snackoos. "And she was supposedly out cold before he was stabbed."

"Then why," I asked, and pointed at her. She continued to glare at the Snackoos. "Did you testify to what you said before?" Still glaring at the Snackoos, the corner of her lips twitched into a slight smirk.

"A witness claims to have seen it all," The detective said. Dammit! I forgot about the witness! "...That's all I can say for now." Detective Skye started to walk away from the stand. There was a thud.

"**HOLD IT!**"

I looked around. Payne was, well... Flabbergasted. The Judge looked like he always does, and Detective Skye had surprise on her face. I looked to my side to see a defiant Ms. Fey, palms flat on the desk as if she had done an almost-patented lawyer desk slam.

"Ms. Fey?" I asked, somewhat concerned

"The gun." She stated. "Testify about the gun before you leave." There was a look in her eyes, a look of determination. Detective Skye seemed confused for a moment, but the wheels started to turn inside her head.

"Okay." She smirked and stepped back to the stand. I stared confused at Ms. Fey, who smiled goofily at me in return. Then something clicked. 'He's already got it all figured out and he isn't even here!' That means that the note Detective Skye gave me...

I smiled confidentially. I knew at that moment I would win.

Even though his logic is really freakin' hard to understand, Mr. Wright... Is usually right.

--

_Author's Note_: One more testimony from Ema and then the Recess. Almost half over with the first trial! ...It's gonna be hell for me writing the multiple day trials with investigating. I'd put in a bunch of math to estimate the amount of total chapters for you, but it's a bit complicated. Lets just say it'll have about as many chapters as Godot has coffee blends.


	6. Why is this surprising me?

Author's Note: Done with Ema for now! Oh; not that anyone said anything, but I just realized Apollo calls Ema by her first name in the game. Blah. I feel stupid now because I was positive he called her 'Detective Skye.' Oh well. I didn't find out until after I wrote this chapter.

Usual disclaimer, Capcom owns the Ace Attorney series.

–

For the final tome today, Detective Skye cleared her throat to start her testimony.

_"The victim, as you know, was shot in the heart twice._

_Both bullet's were fired by the same gun, confirmed by rifling marks._

_The gun was not found."_

I blinked. Ms. Fey was wildly smiling, as if the detective on the stand were the real murderer, whom had just accidentally confirmed that she was the murderer.

"...That's it?" I asked. "Three statements? That's it? Nothing more?" Okay; now I'm pissed and confused.

"Focus on the important things, Kid." Ms. fey smirked. I inwardly groaned. 'Yup. She's Mr. Wright's friend,' I thought. 'Not telling me what's going on, waiting for me to get it, all that jazz.'

The judged looked thoughtful. "Why wasn't this said before?" He questioned. Not angrily, just curiously. Ms. Fey smiled.

"Before now, the gun was irrelevant." She stated simply.

"But it was the murder weapon...!" Payne interjected. "How is that irrelevant?!" Ms. Fey chuckled.

"Maggey was arrested for holding a knife that had been used to stab the victim's corpse. When talking about why she was arrested, the gun was irrelevant." She crossed her arms over her chest. For a moment, it was as if a beautiful, slightly older woman was standing next to Ms. Fey. I vaguely remembered seeing her somewhere. One of Mr. Wright's old photographs came to mind.

Ms. Fey smiled again as Payne struggled to think of a comeback. The judge suddenly remembered I needed to cross-examine Detective Skye.

"Justice, do your thing." He said as he banged the gavel.

"My pleasure, Your Honour." I stated as I leaned nearer to the detective. I let the first statement go by, but pressed on the next.

"**HOLD IT!**" I shouted. Glancing at Ms. Fey, I saw her smiling like crazy. "Rifling marks?"

"Yup." She munched on a Snackoo. "Each gun leaves one on the bullet fired from it. Like it's fingerprint." She said and touched her glasses.

"Remember that, Kid." Ms. Fey whispered. I whipped my head around. Again, Mr. Wright's note was clutched in her hands.

"Wha-"

"Next statement, Ema." Ms. Fey smiled at the woman on the stand. Detective Skye smiled back.

"Okay, Maya." The smile grew slightly. 'They know each other?' I asked myself. 'Well, of course they do!' I mentally slapped myself. 'Weren't they both Mr. Wright's assistant at some point or another?' The lab-coat detective cleared her throat. "The gun was not found."

I was about to let it slip by, but of course...

"**HOLD IT!**" I looked to my side once more. Ms. Fey was smirking. A 'I know something you all don't' smirk. "Before the witness leaves, the defence would like to request that her last statement be added to the court record."

"We would?" I asked, cautiously.

"Yes, we would." She touched her face. "Just... Seems it needs to be in here." Payne looked like he was about to argue, but held back. 'You can't fool me. Mr. Wright told you to ask for that...!' I thought.

The judge nodded. "Request granted. Does the defence have any further questions?" He looked at Ms. Fey. Ms. Fey! I'm the defence attorney! Not this crazy lady!

"Nope." We stated in unison. She smiled at me. I sighed. I have to admit, she reminds me a lot of Mr. Wright.

I declare a twenty-minute Recess." The judge said. "Court is adjourned!" He banged the gavel and people poured out of the room.

–

"So pal's got it all figured out?" Mr. Gumshoe asked Ms. Fey expectantly. Hope and happiness shone in his eyes.

"Yup!" She declared. "Nick swore he'd figure out what happened, didn't he? He'll do anything for a frie-"

Ms. Fey was cut off when she was tackled by a blue blur shouting, "_Mystic Maaaaayaaaa_!" When Ms. Fey and the blue blur fell to the ground, they were laughing. The raven-haired woman got up and helped up, as she liked to say, my 'little big sister.'

"Trucy!" She declared, hugging the magician. "I haven't seen you in forever! You grew so much!" Ms. Fey marvelled as a "Teehee"-ing Trucy clonked herself on the head. "Remind me to hit your daddy for not taking you to see me more often."

"I can hit him myself, if you want!" Trucy exclaimed excitedly. "I'm here to give Polly some evidence then I gotta go back to the hospital. Daddy's already checking himself out, and he needs me and my Magic Panties to help him carry all his kid shows back home!" She took a breath. "What's it like?! Being an assistant again after not being one in eight years?!"

_'Didn't she say it was four years earlier?'_ I questioned myself. I was about to say something, but Ms. Fey glared at me over Trucy's head. A 'Talk-and-die' look. I shrank back.

"So are the Magic Panties a hit?" Ms. Fey asked, proudness in her eyes. "I came up with that concept." She smirked at me. "And it was a real good idea, too. Nick looked like he would have a heart attack when I said it, that's how good it was!" 'Something tells me Mr. Wright didn't think it was a good idea...'

"They're famous! Everyone loves my panties!" Exclaimed the young magician. "Polly even found them for me when they were stolen!" Ms. Fey snickered.

"You... Found her panties?"

"He also found Little Plum's panties, too! And he got Wocky off because of them!" Trucy beamed at me. "Apollo's good at finding panties! Especially if they're in cars or trash cans!" Ms. Fey let go of Trucy and was doubled over in laughter. Trucy stood cluelessly next to her as I wished someone would kill me.

Lucky, the defendant's son who had been quiet up until then, had to ask: "What's so funny?"

"Yah!" Trucy exclaimed. "Why are my panties funny?" I looked to the elder Gumshoes' for help. Mr. Gumshoe was snickering and Ms. Gumshoe was whispering at him to stop.

"Er- You said you have evidence for me?" I changed the subject oh-so-smoothly. Trucy stood there blankly for a moment, then went "Oh!" and reached for her bag.

"Let's see... Nope, nope, nope, nope..." Was murmured as she rummaged through her bag.

"What, is the interior of that bag your magic panties?" I couldn't help but ask. It wasn't that smart, but noone noticed.

"AHA!" Eventually she pulled out two things triumphantly. One was... Another note, it seemed. The other were two bullets in a bag. She flipped them at me.

"Are these the bullets' from inside the victim?" I asked, as I inspected them. They both had the same rifling marks as the other, and had a bit of blood on each.

"Nope. From the same gun, though..." She smiled. I looked at the paper.

It was a will. Somebody by the name of 'Coney Rabbit' left all his money and possession to the first of his two children, unnamed in the will, to arrive at his funeral. I had to do a double-take when I saw the dollar-amount in his will. _'I could afford ten apartments and never have to pay rent with that...!'_

"What do you mean, 'from the same gun?'" Ms. Gumshoe asked. "Where'd you find those bullets?" Trucy smiled as sweetly as she possibly could.

"Daddy's left shoulder," she said. "He managed to get the rifling marks checked this quickly! And they match those found in the victim!" I stood there, speechless.

Why was this surprising me?

–

_Author's Note_: Did anyone _not_ see that one coming? Oh; I needed to put Mia in there. I just had to. I can't imagine her not 'living on' through Maya, even if she doens't become an attorney. Constructive Critisism appreciated.


	7. What type of name is Bunny Rabbit?

_Author's Note_: Sorry for not updating sooner! School, Halloween, Candy Hangover Day (November first, basically,), friends, etc. This chapter's kinda short again. Sorry!

Still don't own Ace Attorney. I do in my dreams, though... Although I also get lost in school in my pajamas in my dreams, too...

--

"_WHAT DO YOU MEAN, MR. WRIGHT'S SHOULDER?!_" I screeched. Trucy looked shocked.

"I mean, these are the bullets that were in Daddy's shoulder. From when he got shot this morning. _Duh_, Polly." She rolled her eyes. "It's gonna be decisive evidence, I bet." Speechless again, I looked down at the bullets. Then something clicked.

"...The gun wasn't found." I stated in a monotone. "If these bullets have the same rifling marks, it was from the same gun. Which means someone had to use the gun to shoot Mr. Wright. The only person who would wanna shoot Mr. Wright under these conditions..." I looked up at Maggey Gumshoe. "Only the _real killer_ would want him dead at the moment. These bullets are the key to your freedom."

Her eyes shown as she looked at them. "...I can't tell. Is this lucky or unlucky, Dick?" She asked shaking her husband's arm. "Mr.... Mr. Wright's already saved me, but he ended up in the hospital over it."

Trucy laughed.

"Daddy said they're making mountains out of mole-hills. He's all ready checking himself out, remember?" She glowed. "He said he might catch the last few minutes of the trial."

The bailiff shouted something like, 'Court will reconcile in a moment!' Trucy and Ms. Fey hugged each other again, before I had a terrible thought.

"This isn't _forged_, is it?" I asked the teenage girl. She glared at me.

"No, Polly! Not all the evidence I give you and Daddy is fake!" She spat quietly.

"Just asking, seeing the fake diary page and the bloody ace..." I shivered, then vaguely remembered the most recent employee of the Wright's Anything Agency. About a month after Vera Misham's trial, Mr. Wright convinced her to work with us, seeing that no art studio wished to hire a sickly, murder-accused forger and the only business she had gotten had been making forgeries. Luckily, she didn't live with us. The flat about the agency already cramped enough. Trucy turned to leave.

"Come on, Polly!" Ms. Fey smiled. _Great_. Now I'm Polly to her too. I sighed. "To the Court Room!"

"Okay, Ms. Fey." She hit the back of my head.

"Maya."

"Huh?"

"My name's Maya. Ms. Fey makes me sound old." She stared into space for a moment, then smiled. "If you need to spiff it up, call me Mystic Maya."

"I'll just call you Maya."

--

I looked at the crying, quivering woman standing at the witness stand. Barely over 26, a year younger than the victim. She had two large brown pigtails coming out of each side of her head, resembling a rabbit's ears. Her eyes were gigantic and bloodshot from the crying, and her nose constantly twitched. Her tiny hands covered her mouth, and she could barely be five feet tall. She wore a brown jacket over a white shirt. The judge banged his gavel.

"Court will now reconcile. Mr. Payne, introduce the witness." He commanded. The man zealously nodded. I narrowed my eyes at the woman. She gave off vibes of being the victim, but there was something under it.

"Name and Occupation, please."

"B-B-Bunny Rabbit... Witness?" She seemed to question. "Or sister of the deceased?" She buried her face in her hands and sobbed. "I'm not sure! I've never been at the stand before!"

"It's okay, Miss Rabbit," Payne started, playing with his hair. "Let's start off easily. Noone's accusing you of murder."

_'Yet.'_

"What's your job?" Payne asked the crying woman.

"I-I-I'm un-un-unemployed." She sniffed. "I u-used to work at the family st-store, but it went un-under after dad died tw-two weeks ago." She burst out crying. "_AND NOW THAT TERRIBLE LADY TOOK MY BIG BROTHER AWAY FROM MEEE!!!"_

"Turn off the water works." Maya commanded. "At least you weren't framed for murdering your sister who basically raised you." Her eyes were glazed over and her tone was deadly. "And you weren't this upset yesterday when Nick was questioning you."

Mr. Wright already questioned her?

Bunny Rabbit's expression changed, but only for a moment. Too fast for anyone else to see, I believe. For the briefest moment, her eyes became deadly, her hands moved slightly under her mouth to reveal a twisted expression that was both a smile and a frown. Before I had realized what happened, she was back to the sniffling sad-sack she had previously been.

"Wh-What happened to Mr. Mean Attorney, anyways?" She asked. Her voice had failed at the exactly right moment to fool anyone else, but my eyes and bracelet told another story as her eyes twinkled.

"_He cannot be here right now_," Maya said, tone still deadly. She sent a shiver down my back. "But he's just fine."

"Really now?" All but Bunny's eyes kept the same sad expression. Instead of fake sadness or joy, the gigantic black orbs held hate and contempt. The judge hit his gavel to his table.

"May we please have your testimony, Ms. Rabbit?"

"O-O-Okay, Mr. Nice Judge." She sniffled. For a brief moment, her eyes were amused as she glanced at me, Maya, and Maggey in the defendant's chair. They then returned to the sad, bloodshot eyes they had been when she first came in here. "I-I-I'll tell you how the mean lady took away Jack..."

"Liar..." Maya muttered under her breath. I didn't comment.

We were obviously dealing with a killer bunny.

--

_Author's Note_: That is my favorite last line in this fanfic so far. I also had a bit of fun with Italic's in this chapter... Constructive Criticism appreciated!


	8. Eyes bugging out come with the bracelet

_Author's Note_: Gah! It's been forever since I've updated! Sorry! Usual excuses. School, friends, laziness. Sorry!

Still Don't own Ace Attorney.

--

The woman sniffled before speaking.

"_I-I-I was wa-walking down the street, an-and Jack came running up._

_I-I-I must have passed the res-restaurant he was eating in._

_As he came running up, so did the Mean Lady._

_She was screaming about stealing or something, and she wa-was armed. In defense, he grabbed her arms._

_Sh-She shot my big brother in the heart, then stabbed him!_

_I-I knocked her out before she could hurt me._" Bunny Rabbit wiped a fake stray tear away. "I... I lied about seeing Jack knock her out because I didn't want to be a suspect in my own brothers murder...!"

"It's okay, I understand." The judge said. "Mr. Justice, if this poor lady's testimony holds true, your client is in trouble... Your cross-examination, please."

"Okay, your Honor." I said. _'That witch...! She's trying her hardest to make Maggey look completely guilty...!'_ My bracelet started to go off. _'Of course. She's lying.'_ Maya growled slightly under her breath, glaring daggers at the woman on the stand. Bunny noticed, and her eyes seemed to smirk.

"I hate it when the real murderers are this stupid." Maya's tone was flat. Payne started lecturing her before I cleared my throat.

"Talk, Bunny Rabbit." I said. She faked a sniffle.

"Pl-Please do-don't yell at me...!" She shook her head. She started her testimony again.

"I-I-I was wa-walking down the street, an-and Jack came running up." I went for it.

"**HOLD IT!**" I screamed. I glanced to my side. Maya still had a deadly look on. _'No more cheering, I guess,'_ I thought. Just looking at her sent a shiver down my spine. Was she always like this? Happy, cheery, and annoying one moment, and deadly the next? I'd have to ask Mr. Wright later.

"Wh-What?! Did I say something wrong?" Bunny burst out crying. The judge banged his gavel.

"Mr. Justice, no making the witness cry!" He declared.

"I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" I screeched in my own defense.

"YOU YELLED AT MEEE!" Bunny clang to the witness stand for support. "YOU'RE MEAN!" I glanced to my side. Maya was pinching the bridge of her nose.

"..."

"..."

"...Aren't you supposed to be cross-examining someone, Polly?" Maya asked. I jumped a little.

"Right!"

"I-I-I must have passed the res-restaurant he was eating in." Bunny said.

"**HOLD IT!**" I yelled again. Bunny burst out crying, and the judge yelled at me. Again.

"How," Maya asked, still pinching the bridge of her nose, "Did you know he was eating in a restaurant?" For a moment, Bunny glared at Maya, before speaking.

"Jack always ate out. He was a single man and a horrible cook." She wiped away more fake tears. "He couldn't even microwave instant ramen."

"But how did you know he was eating? Maybe he was out shopping or at work?" Bunny's eyes turned violent. "We didn't mention the restaurant since you took the stand."

"...He was also out of work, so that rules out both of your ideas." She growled. Maya glare angrily at the woman and seemed to let it slide.

"Next statement." The original pattern continued twice when I pressed her. Hold it. Crying. Yelling. Before her next statement, she moved her left hand from her mouth to cover her left eye.

"Sh-She shot my big brother in the heart, then stabbed him!" _That was it_. I touched my bracelet and was about to ask her to repeat, but Maya interrupted me.

"_Holy-crap,_ kid! You-You're eyes are red and buggy!" Maya exclaimed. "What's going on?"

"The perceive system. When a witness is lying," I took a breath, "They have a nervous tick. My bracelet allows me to concentrate on the ticks. When I concentrate, time seems to slow down, and I can see with incredible clarity." Maya looked thoughtful.

"Nick said you had some weird trick. I just never imagined it to be that weird..."

_'Gee, Thanks.'_

"Repeat your last statement, please." I said. I touched my bracelet and everything became clear.

"Sh-She shot my big brother..." She started. No dice yet. "In the heart..." Her left pointed finger twitched like she was pulling a trigger.

"**GOTCHA!**" I yelled. She jumped and began to cry.

"MR. JUUUDGE!" She cried.

"You're not getting out of it this time, Bunny," I said. "I can see through your lie. As you said '_In the heart,_' your left pointer finger twitched."

"...! So what?" She asked. She folded her arms over her chest. No fake tears. No quivering voice. The only emotion she showed was contempt in her eyes. "You'd be twitching if some creep's eyes were bugging out of the sockets while you talk about your sibling being murdered."

"Yes, but the way it twitched was somewhat startling." I stated. She didn't change at all. "It looked like you were pulling the trigger a gun."

"...!"

"Just curious, but what side is his heart on...?"

"The left side, why...?"

"That's impossible." I stated. Her eyes were confused.

"Why is that, Mr. Mean Attorney...?"

"His heart was on the right side." I said. Her eyes were deadly.

"What?" She spat. "How would you know this? Show me proof his heart was on the right!" I dug through the court record.

"TAKE THAT!" I exclaimed as I shoved the crime scene photo in her face. She started to fake cry.

"My-My-My Br-"

"Your brother. Look at the picture. Specifically," I started. She wiped away fake tears, "The holes in his chest."

"They're in his heart."

"On the right side."

"....! _Ah_!" She yelped.

"You knew your brother had Situs Inverses. Why would you lie about knowing what side his heart is on?" She folded her arms across her chest again. "Because he was shot in the heart, and of the two people at the crime scene, you were the only one who knew which side his heart was on!"

"...! Urk!" She yelped as she started sweating bullets and shook her head back and forth. Her eyes looked like she was in pain.

"That is all, your honor."

--

Author's Note: Something seems off to me about this chapter. Ah well. I liked giving Bunny the '...!' things, though...


	9. Looks don't kill, but guns can!

_Author's Note_: I am lazy. Sorry for not updating! But this chapter is action-packed! But it all goes by way to quickly... Ah well. Maya seems to angsty in this chapter. I blame Bunny. Don't worry; Bunny'll be gone soon and Maya'll be happy-go-lucky again soon.

Oh, Happy Late Thanksgiving!

–

The Judge looked down upon the courtroom as he scratched his head.

"Bunny Rabbit...! Explain why you have lied to the court!" He demanded. Bunny wiped sweat away from her forehead.

"I only said the left side once. I forgot about it," She started. Other than her hateful eyes, her face was filled with fake sadness. "And I didn't want to be blamed for my brother's death...! None of you know how devastating that single thought could be!" She sobbed. I glanced to my side to see Maya's loathing glare.

"_Actually_, I do know how horrible it is to be accused of murdering my sibling. I also know how it feels to have my mother die to protect me, have a friend fall off a cliff and get real sick because he thinks he's chasing a murderer, my little cousin unwittingly almost channel a spirit that wants me dead, and have to channel that exact spirit to stay alive. I also know what it's like to have an insane aunt who wants me dead," The woman spat. "New Testimony."

"Hey!" Payne squeaked, trying to draw attention to himself, "I'm supposed to demand new testimonies!"

"New Testimony. _Now_. About calling the police." Maya's acidic voice demanded. Payne yelped in fear, and choked out something like "New testimony, please!"

The hateful look Bunny Rabbit shot at Maya and me was disturbing. I quietly thanked goodness that looks did not kill.

_"I called the police right after the defendant killed Jack._

_It did not take them long to get there._

_It was hard to stand there, looking at my dead brother..."_ She trailed off, and wiped away more fake tears. Maya's hate for the woman still showed in her glare. The judge looked down sympathetically at Bunny.

"Mr. Justice, will you be doing your cross-examination...? There isn't much to argue with, here," The old man said.

"There's _plenty_ to argue." I stated. "Ms. Rabbit, please restate your testimony." She started her testimony.

"I called the police right after the defendant killed Jack."

**_"HOLD IT!"_** I screeched. "Right after?" I asked, feeling foolish. She rolled her eyes.

"Of course right after."

"And when was he killed?" Bunny looked thoughtful.

"About... 7:20?" She guessed. _'Bunny, you don't realize it, but you just screwed yourself,'_ I thought to myself. Maya continued to glare.

"Please add this to your testimony," I requested. She nodded.

"I called at about 7:25, and they arrived at 7:32." Bunny smirked. "Well, Mr. Mean Attorney?" She taunted, her eyes mirthful. "Can you poke any hole in my testimony?" She stopped smirking when she looked at me. I knew my face was dead serious, no signs of desperateness showing.

"The police got the report at _exactly_ 7:00, and took there time because the one calling claimed they heard a single bang, more like a firecracker." I stated, my eyes narrowing. "You said it took a short time, and you called at 7:20. There is one explanation for this," I said, extending my arm and finger to point at the woman. "_You_ called the police at seven, giving them a feeble complaint so they would take their time! Then you _killed_ Jack Rabbit at 7:20! It would not feel like a long time to you between the actual killing and when they arrived!" I declared. "_You planned ahead of time to kill your brother and blame an innocent bystandard!_" Bunny started sweating again, her eyes filled to the brim with utter loathing. She crossed her arms on top of her chest.

"_Really_, Mr. Attorney? You're being ridiculous," Bunny spat. "But I'll go along with you're fantasy. Let's say I did kill Jack. Why would I?" She smirked.

"She's talking motive, kid." Maya said. "And you know the motive, don't you?" She looked me in the eye, and smirked. "I _know_ you do."

"Well, Mr. Justice? Can you prove she could have a motive? If so, what could be her motive be?" The judge asked me. I looked at him, and I felt confidence rushing to me.

"**_TAKE THAT_**!" I yelled, after finding the right piece of evidence. "I can prove her motive," I started, and held up Coney Rabbit's will, "-With this."

"_...!_" Bunny started sweating bullets at the sight of the piece of paper. "Tha-_That's_...!"

"Your father's will." I finished for her. "He was very rich, apparently. And he left all his money to one of his two children- The first to attend his funeral," I toyed with the paper, frowning slightly. "Did you know he requested a certain amount of time pass between his death and funeral?" I looked at Bunny. She was sweating heavily and once again, I was glad looks didn't kill. "He asked three weeks go by. That means that he hasn't had his funeral yet." I said. The judge's eyebrows shot up.

"Mr. Justice! Are you accusing the witness of murdering her brother so she could gain her father's inheritance?" He asked. Bunny's left hand twitched like she was pulling a trigger.

"Yes, your Honour. I am. Not only was she trying to murder him, but he tried to murder her. Why else would he bring his own knife at a restaurant, unless he needed one at any given moment?" I said. Maya slammed the desk with her palms.

"She's also to blame for Nick being out of Court!" The woman yelled. Bunny sneered.

"Don't be ridiculous, I didn't shoot that pitiful excuse of an attorney," Her face seemed twisted. Little did she know, she practically admitted to the fact she denied.

"Bunny..." I started. Her hate filled eyes snapped towards my direction. "...How did you know he was shot?" I asked. She didn't seem to comprehend. "The only people in this courtroom who should know this are," I held out my hand to count the people, "Me, my 'assistant,' The defendant, her husband, and their child." I said. "We were only able to speak of it during recess, when I got another important piece of evidence..." The woman looked at me with pure, unconditional hate. I pulled out a small bag from the court record, "This." I said, holding up the bullets that were taken from Mr. Wright's shoulder. "Actually, it's two pieces." I smirked.

"Big whoop. Two bullets." She brushed off my evidence. "It's not that big a deal."

"They were from the _same gun_ that killed your brother." Maya chimed in. Bunny's head whipped around to see the woman next to me. "Rifling marks confirm it. Also," the woman took out Ema's testimony, and held it up. "The gun that was used to shoot Jack Rabbit was not found." The judge looked down upon the court.

"Well, where is it?" He asked. I thought for a moment.

_'She had the gun when she killed Jack. She had it when she shot Mr. Wright. She keeps looking like she's going to pull the trigger. That means...'_

"She _still_ has the gun with her!" I declared, pointing at the woman. She smirked, and then reached into her sweatshirt pockets and withdrew a small, six-round revolver.

"Mr. Judge, you're bailiff sucks." She smirked. During the mass-hysteria, Maya attempted to pry the gun away from Bunny. Soon, Maya was stuck in a headlock, with a gun up against her head. "Yes, I killed my brother, and blamed Little-Miss-Waitress! Looks like I can't get away with that now, so I might as well secure my getaway!" She smirked evilly, and pressed the gun against Maya's head harder. "Anybody moves, her brains splatter on the floor!" She screamed. I was paralysed with fear.

_'No...! I-I can't let her hurt an innocent person! I can't let her hurt Mr. Wright's friend...!'_ I thought as she pulled Maya towards the door. She stood before the closed wooden doors for a moment and smirked.

"You lawyers are all morons," She sneered, looking directly at me. "But you were able to figure it out. _Too bad_ you weren't smart enough to keep it yo yoursel-"

**_THUD! BANG!_**

I closed my eyes in fear of what I would see if I opened them.

--

_Author's Note_: Cliffhanger! Don't worry, I promise the next chapter will come soon. Constructive Criticism appreciated!


	10. The Giant Badger Man

_Author's Note_: Whoop! Done with the first trial! And now onto several crack filler chapters before onto the next trial! Okay; I feel like I should have done this chapter sooner, but I've been sick lately. And lazy.

Do not own Ace Attorney.

--

My arm started to hurt a little. Not my entire arm, just a small bit of it. I cautiously opened one eye to glance at it. My sleeve was torn and my arm was bleeding a bit. It looked like it had been grazed by a bullet. Slowly, I turned my head to see the wall behind me. There was, in fact, a bullet lodged in the wall.

"_Maya_!" A familiar man's voice screeched. My eyes snapped towards the door. Bunny Rabbit lay unconscious on the floor, and the Bailiff was rushing over to make sure she didn't escape or try to shoot anyone again. The gun was a few feet from her. It must have flew from her hand and discharged the bullet. Finally, I looked at Maya. She was doubled over, shaking in fear, and a man stood near her, pulling her up by one of her shoulders.

The man was wearing an open blue suite-jacket that had seen better days, with matching pants and a wrinkled white collared shirt. Around his neck were a loose red tie and a golden locket. He had stubble on his chin, and his blue eyes were fearful. The man's left arm was in a sling and appeared to be lame. However, the strangest thing about him was his blue beanie with _'Papa'_ written on it in pink with a surprised-face button.

"Maya! Are you okay? Maya?" The man desperately checked to see if the woman in question was hurt. She sniffled, then threw her arms around the man.

"_Nick_!" She yelled, clinging to the man. "Nick, if I didn't get the gun, she coulda _shot_ someone else!" She cried as the man rubbed her back soothingly with his right hand. A teenage girl with brown hair, a blue cape, a blue silk top hat, and a dark dress came running through the door.

"Daddy, what happened?" Trucy exclaimed, seeing how distressed Maya was. She looked over to me. "Polly!" She yelled, her face both angry and worried. "What happened?"

"B-Bunny said she would kill Maya, then she was in front of the door, then... Then there was a thud and a bang..." Words failed me after that.

"Mr. Wright burst through the door!" Ms. Gumshoe offered. "It hit the murderer in the head hard, and she got knocked out! She dropped the gun and let go of Maya!" Her eyes sparkled. "Mr. Wright's a _hero_!" The judge squinted his eyes.

"_Phoenix Wright_?!" He asked, obviously surprised that the man was Mr. Wright. Mr. Wright looked up sheepishly.

"Am I interrupting the trial?"

--

I slammed my head on the table at _A la Shoe_. Instead of being paid, we get to have free lunch here, which would be good if the trial hadn't been so _freakin'_ traumatic. Trucy, who was to my left, looked at me.

"Cheer up, Polly!" She smiled and slapped me on the back. "Daddy's fine, Mystic Maya's fine, your arm is fine, and Maggey is free!" Vera, who was sitting on my right, opened her sketchbook and started doodling furiously. She turned it to show us what she drew. It was a picture of me, with a ridiculously annoyed look on my face. A chibi Trucy and Mr. Hat were in the background, looking zealous while pumping their fists into the air.

"...Why are you... Upset?" She asked. "...Are you jealous... Of Mr. Wright?" I blinked.

"Uh, what?" Once again, the blue haired girl scribbled in her book and turned it to show up a frowny-face.

"...He's getting all the attention... You were the one... Who got Maggey free..." Vera bit her nails. "...Sorry... I'm wrong... Aren't I...?" I sighed.

"Don't bite your nails, Vera." I picked my head off the table. "That habit put you in the hospital." She took her hands away from her mouth, and smiled slightly. Mr. Wright, Mr. and Ms. Gumshoe, and Maya had been to engrossed in their own conversation about random things I didn't understand completely, and I didn't think they were listening to us.

"Hospital?" Maya exclaimed, eyes shining with interest as she leaned across the table towards Vera. "What, did you bite part of your thumb off and they had to sew it back on?" She grabbed Vera's hand and inspected her fingers. Vera was obviously flustered.

"No; I- I... I...!" Vera stuttered. She struggled to keep herself from biting her nails on her other hand. Ms. Gumshoe decided to take a guess.

"Were you too busy biting you nails to watch where you were going, and knocked someone out a fifth floor window and you fell out trying to catch them?" She asked loudly. "Don't worry, that's happened to me, too!" Mr. Gumshoe laughed.

"Luckily, we landed on some homeless alcoholic bum walking by," He smiled like he won the lottery. "Maggey was completely uninjured, and I only broke a bone or two!"

"That _wasn't_ an alcoholic homeless bum." Mr. Wright glared. Mr. Gumshoe raised his eyebrows.

"Really, pal? How would you know?" He asked, genuinely curious, with a tone saying _'There's-no-way-you-know-this-one,-pal!'_

"That was me you landed on." Mr. Wright stated dryly. Mr. and Ms. Gumshoe were suddenly incredibly tense. Maya laughed, then tried desperately to brake the tension.

"So how'd you end up in the hospital, Vera?" The black haired woman asked. She stuttered a bit, before Mr. Wright swooped in to save her.

"An evil man who wanted her to keep quiet realized she bites her nails when she's nervous, and gave her poisoned nail polish." He stated as if it were no big deal. Maya's eyes widened with realization.

"_OO-OOH_! So you're _that_ Vera!" She exclaimed, with an understanding and slightly sympathetic look on her face.

"Vera's not exactly a common name, Maya. Did you expect me to know and employ two blue-haired artists named Vera?" Mr. Wright asked his friend. Maya didn't even take notice of him.

"Don't worry, noone blames you." She smiled sincerely. Vera fidgeted as Mr. and Ms. Gumshoe exchanged confused glances.

"Uh... Blame her for _what_, pal?" Mr. Gumshoe asked. Maya took a deep breath, as if to explain something, but Mr. Wright beat her to it.

"It's nothing, Detective." He said. Suddenly, Trucy realized something.

"Who's cooking our lunch?" The teenage girl asked before Ms. Gumshoe smiled proudly.

"Lucky's cooking most of it. Our only other employee is helping him. He's supposed to be a waiter, but he agreed to cook for an extra five dollars on his next paycheck."

Mr. Wright had been sitting at the end of the booth. He got up, and said he had to go to the bathroom. A short while after he entered the bathroom, out came two people, balancing several dishes as they walked. One of the people was the Gumshoe son, while the other....

...Was wearing a giant blue Badger suit?

Anyway, the two people set down the food. He put a large burgers in front of Maya, Trucy, and Mr. Wright's seat. Mr. and Ms. Gumshoe both shared a large bowl of spaghetti, which was carried by their son, and I had a chicken sandwich while Vera ate a salad. The Blue Badger man stood there a minute, and then said to Maya (I _think_),

"You look familiar. Are you one of my ex-girlfriends?"

"I don't think so," Maya chuckled, taking a very un-ladylike bite out of her burger. "I've never dated anyone. Much less a badger." The badger scratched the back of his neck.

"Why don't we change that?" He asked with a hopeful voice. "Wanna go to a movie? You're paying, though."

"Ah, what a world, what a world. A giant badger is hitting on a poor, defenseless girl who talks to dead people," Mr. Wright said, grinding his teeth, as he got back from the men's room. "We aughta get you fixed." The badger turned around to see Mr. Wright, and then practically tackled him

"**NIIICK**!" The Man-Badger exclaimed, "_YOU'RE ALIVE!_ I THOUGHT YOU WERE GONNA DIE FOR SURE!" Mr. Wright grimaced in pain as his head knocked off the badger head, while his lame arm was crushed in the badger's hug. The Badger-Man had spiky light brown hair and a goatee that matched the hair on his head.

"Larry, _let go_!" Mr. Wright spat. The man complied, and scratched the back of his head while sticking out his tongue.

"Sorry, Nick, but I _really_ thought you were dead!" He exclaimed. Maya and Trucy jumped out of their seats.

"_LARRY_!" Maya yelled in a scolding tone. "_HOW_ did you not recognize me?!" She puffed up her cheeks childishly.

"YEAH, _UNCLE LARRY_!" Trucy yelled. "I _KNOW_ I got big since last time you saw me, but _HOW_ could you not recognize me?!" She asked, incredibly pissed off. 'Larry' turned to Mr. Wright.

"Help, Nick." Mr. Wright stuck his nose in the air.

"I got shot in the shoulder when walking down the street with you, and all you do is call the police and run off after a pretty girl and assume I'm dead. _No_." He said with obvious fake sadness.

"If it makes you feel better, Edgey and Franzy are comin' cause they think's you're on your deathbed."

--

_Author's Note_: It feels like it went by so quickly. And, yes. You are all going to have to deal with Larry, Edgeworth, and Franziska. Also, the falling out a fifth floor window thing is something that just _screamed_ Maggey and Gumshoe. And getting landed on by said people falling out the window just seemed Phoenix-ey to me. I dunno.


	11. Whip Woman and Pink Man

_Author's Note:_ I'm sorry this took so long! I have reasons! I've recently become addicted to House MD and NCIS reruns on USA. Internet's been stupid. _A Foolsih cup of Coffee_ drained my writing ability temporarily (I am now aware of the typo in the title. I'm to lazy to fix it.) I'm forgetful. School and friends and family. That sorta stuff. Mostly the House and NCIS though. I have no life.

I do not own Ace attorney.

--

For what felt like an hour, Larry was chewed out by Maya and Trucy, while Mr. and Ms. Gumshoe excitedly talked about something I didn't hear. Me, Vera, and Mr. Wright simply ate our food in silence, other than the occasional snicker from Mr. Wright when Maya or Trucy said something particularly cutting to Larry, who usually ended up crying. Finally, I noticed Lucky silently staring holes into the ground. The young boy had seen his mother be accused of murder and a woman threaten to blow an innocent person's brains out.

It was traumatic for me, and I was twenty-three, and before today I never met the person being accused or the hostage. I looked down at the child pitifully.

"Lucky..." I started the child looked up at me. "Are you okay?" I asked. The boy hung his head down, squeezed his eyes shut and balled his little hands into fists. I heard a small sniffle from him.

"I... I _wanna_ be..." He sniffled again, and I saw a tear fall. "I wanna be..." He looked up with me with incredibly large eyes. "I wanna be _just like you_, bud!" He declared. Everybody stared at the child, and I was at a loss for words. "You saved Ma, bud!" Lucky yelled.

"What about Nick?" Maya asked, indignity in her voice. Mr. Wright looked from Maya to Lucky, to me.

"All he did was open a door, bud! Polly-bud's the real hero!" Lucky yelled. Mr. Wright and Maya's faces fell in unison. I had a feeling my face looked similar. _'Polly-bud?'_ Trucy smiled.

"You're right, Lucky! Polly is a hero!" She declared. Mr. Wright had a crestfallen face, which lead to Trucy revising her statement. "So is daddy! He saved Mystic Maya for the millionth time!" I sighed, and once again banged my head into the table.

--

Finally, we, including Larry, left the restaurant. Larry begged Mr. Wright for a job at the Wright Anything Agency, and eventually got his wish. We walked down the street until we got to the building with the agency and apartment, and then went in. After a short ride on the elevator, we finally got to the agency's floor.

The door was right around the corner. I wanted _nothing_ more than to plop down on the couch, watch television and block out today's trial from my memory. Before we turned the corner, however, two voices and a cracking sound rang out.

"Whipping the door _won't_ help, Franziska," an exhausted man's voice stated. It had a European ring to it, and sounded vaguely familiar. "Especially seeing that Wright isn't in there."

"_Fool_!" Another voice yelled. It too, sounded vaguely familiar with a European ring, however this voice was female. "Phoenix Wright, you better open this door this instant or I _will_ destroy you!" She yelled. I glanced at the people around me. Maya, Trucy, and Larry seemed excited, Vera was nervous, and Mr. Wright...

Was walking the other way.

Maya growled slightly, and violently grabbed the back of his jacket. She muttered quiet, quick and angry words to him that I did not hear, and then he sighed.

"_YOU FOOLISH FOOL PHOENIX WRIGHT, OPEN THE FOOLISH DOOR_!" The woman's voice yelled. Mr. Wright stood up straight and put on his poker face, and then walked around the corner. The rest of the group, including myself, all peeked around the corner.

Mr. Wright nonchalantly walked towards the two people, who did not notice him. The man sported a pink suit with frills tied around his neck. He had glasses and somewhat long greyish-black hair, all pulled into a neat ponytail other than his bangs. He was slumped onto the floor with his back against the wall as if he was waiting there for a long time.

The woman stood facing Mr. Wright's door. She had on a short black dress with white sleeves that were puffy around the shoulders, and a short black jacket with yellow trimming the sides. Black leggings covered her legs, and stiletto heels were on her feet. She, like the man, wore a frilly-thing around her neck. Her hair was short, spiky, and light blue in color. In her hands she held a whip.

Mr. Wright pushed right past her, and stuck his key in the lock. The man and woman stared in surprise as he opened the door, walked two feet in, and then made a gesture for them to follow.

"...You can come in now," Mr. Wright said. The man stumbled a little as he got up, and the woman still stared in surprise.

"...Mr... Phoenix... Wright...?" The woman asked, brows creased in confusion. Mr. Wright swallowed in fear, then nodded, and then it seemed like he prepared himself for a beating. The man and woman both stared, mouth open in surprise for a moment, and then...

_**CRACK!**_

"_WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU?!_" She screamed, as she repeatedly whipped Mr. Wright, who was now a twitching mess on the ground.

"_YOU LOOK LIKE A HOBO, WRIGHT!_" The man yelled, pointing at Mr. Wright.

"_WHAT'S WITH THAT FOOLISH HAT?_"

**_CRACK!_**

"_**DO NOT WHIP THE INJURED!**_" Mr. Wright yelled back at them. The two people finally noticed his arm in a sling. The two walked to Mr. Wright and dropped to their knees next to him. The man grabbed Mr. Wright's arm.

"Ah! That bonehead said you were shot and about to die!" He exclaimed, his brows now creasing with worry. "Are you okay? Shouldn't you be in the hospital? What happened to the shooter? Where's Trucy?"

"You shouldn't have believed that moron, Miles Edgeworth," The woman said, as she also grabbed Mr. Wright's lame arm, and proceeded to move it up and down. Mr. Wright winced slightly. "Shot in the shoulder, Mr. Phoenix Wright? You're taking it like a wimp. When I was shot, I would have gotten to court if those stupid doctor's hadn't gotten in the way."

"You were only shot once," Mr. Wright winced again. "I was shot twice. I-I'm fine. Let go." He said, and the man and woman let go of his arm. He turned to the man in pink. "I checked myself out, the shooter's in jail, and Trucy's right behind that wall." He said, jabbing his right thumb in our direction. Trucy and Larry stumbled out of the huddle we had formed peeking around the corner.

"Uncle Edgey! Aunt Franzy!" Trucy exclaimed, bounding towards the two people. She latched herself onto the man with a hug. The man looked embarrassed, but ended up hugging the girl back.

"Franzy! Edgey!" Larry yelled. "It was _soo_ scary watching Nick get shot!" He cried. The woman whipped him.

"Fool." She growled. Trucy let go of the man and went to hug the woman. Mr. Wright looked like he would have a heart attack as his daughter hugged 'Aunt Franzy.' Luckily, the woman did not whip Trucy, although she looked a little twitchy.

"Apollo," I jumped a bit. "Vera... Maya," Mr. Wright called. "Come out." I held my breath as the three of us came out from behind the wall and faced the scarey woman with a whip and the man in pink. Maya smiled like crazy.

"Hi Mr. Edgeworth!" She exclaimed, then turned to the woman. "Miss von Karma, it's nice to see you!" The woman bit her lip before she forced out a sentence as pleasantly as she could.

"It's nice to see you to, Maya Fey."

--

_Author's Note_: I... Don't know. I went with the fandom's general view of Edgeworth in Apollo Justice (glasses and pony tail). I just made Franzy the same as she always was.


	12. Pt 2: Fingerprints on the bottle

_Author's Note:_ Tada! New Chapter! Sorry if it took long... I'm forgetful, dammit.

If you wonder what an 'excited little fan boy after his favorite anime character makes a dramatic reappearance into the storyline after supposedly being dead for thirty episodes' scream sounds like, it sounds exactly like a fan girl's scream in the same situation.

I don't own Ace Attorney.

--

I blinked. Could it be? Could the two people really be Franziska von Karma, the German Prosecuting Prodigy and Demon Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth? Mr. Wright's rivals from his glory days? Well, that would explain them sounding familiar- I've watched many videos of Mr. Wright's trials. They also looked very much like how they did in the videos, other than aging and Mr. Edgeworth's newly found glasses and long hair. It would also explain Mr. Wright, Maya, and Trucy knowing all of them.

I screamed like an excited little fan boy after his favorite anime character makes a dramatic reappearance into the storyline after supposedly being dead for thirty episodes.

Not that I would know how that would sound, though.

**_CRACK!_**

I found myself on the floor in pain from Ms. von Karma's whip.

"Don't foolishly yell like that, fool!" She demanded. I glanced at Mr. Wright, who was snickering evilly. Mr. Edgeworth eyed me over.

"This kid is your prodigy, Wright? Is he even old enough to drink?" I felt myself swell with indignity.

"I'm twenty-three!" I declared. "I may be young, but I'm good! I took the bar exam abroad, like you two!" I pointed an accusing finger at the two. "I'm older than both of you were when you started prosecuting!" Trucy laughed.

"But Polly," Trucy smiled innocently. I had a bad feeling my ego would take a long walk off a short peer from this; "Aunt Franzy and Uncle Edgey are actually smart!"

Damn her.

Ms. von Karma eyed me over differently than Mr. Edgeworth had. He inspected me critically, as if he were reading an important case report. She looked at me as if she were trying to figure out where she had seen me before. I felt a little awkward, and then she spoke, "Phoenix Wright, is this the boy who's half-"

"_Yes_." Mr. Wright cut her off. He looked as serious as he could with his hat on, wearing a crumpled shirt, arm in a sling, and still kneeling a bit. "He's currently in the dark about it, though."

_**CRACK!**_

_**CRACK!**_

I choked back a yelp of pain, and looked back and forth between the two. Mr. Wright also had a whip mark across his face. "What was that for? What am I in the dark about?!" I demanded.

"I am never telling you another secret again, Larry." Mr. Wright's tone was acidic. Larry looked tearfully at Mr. Wright, as if he were about to ask _'why.'_ Before the man could open his mouth, Mr. Wright answered. "You're a gossip who barely gets facts straight." Larry busted out crying.

"But NIIICK!"

"I'm confused." Ms. von Karma admitted. "Is this fool," she pointed at me, "What that fool," she pointed at Larry, "Said or not?" She asked Mr. Wright.

"He is. I'm assuming he screwed something up, though. Like how he told you two I was about to die." Larry received a glare from the three adult-acting adults.

"What are you talking about?!" I demanded, using my Chords of Steel. Mr. Wright glanced at me.

"Uhh..."

Suddenly, almost everyone got incredibly tense. Larry, Maya, Mr. Wright, Mr. Edgeworth, and Ms. von Karma all started simultaneously twitching in some way or another. The only two people who didn't set off my bracelet, (which was incredibly tight on my wrist at the moment,) were Trucy and Vera, who both looked curious or confused. Mr. Wright and Maya both smiled sheepishly.

"You know what, Apollo?" Mr. Wright laughed nervously. I narrowed my eyes. "-I'll tell you later."

"Is it true this fool has superpowers and can read minds when someone is lying?" Mr. Wright smacked his hand onto his face.

"_Really_, Larry? You told people he has _superpowers_?"

"Isn't that what you said, Nick?"

"_No_, Larry. It wasn't."

--

I laid on my couch-bed in Mr. Wright's apartment. It was a little over a week since Ms. Gumshoe's trial and I met Mr. Wright's blast from the past. Maya had long since taken residence in one of the rooms in the agency because Mr. Wright's apartment was too small to support four people. Somehow, I couldn't help but wonder what Ms. von Karma had been talking about that Mr. Wright wouldn't tell me.

What was I half? Was I half the lawyer he was? Half as good as I can be? I'm out of the loop- and I **AM** the loop!

"Gaa! What are they keeping from me?" I exclaimed, annoyed as hell. Maya and Mr. Wright decided at that moment to walk through the door.

"Apollo? Are you okay?" He asked, sounding somewhat father-like. I jumped on the opportunity.

"What am I half?!" I demanded. The two people looked confused for a moment, then a light went of in both their heads, and my bracelet started to go off.

"Uhh... Well, Apollo..." Mr. Wright started. He scratched the back of his neck, and looked me in the eye. "It's no longer my place to tell you."

..._What_?

The confusion must have shown on my face, because Maya tried to smile reassuringly. "I-I'm sure you'll find out eventually." Her smiled made me realize something.

"You've been telling everyone else behind my back!" I pointed an accusing finger. "You gossip! I bet even Trucy knows!" Mr. Wright laughed nervously.

"Boy, if Trucy knew, the entire city would know." I glared at him. He went on. "You'll find out eventually. Just not by me, probably. Well, maybe me if she doesn't tell you..." _She_? Who's _she_? I looked at Maya, who was looking at Mr. Wright like he had just told me a horrible secret. He saw her expression, and my quizzical one, and realized what he just did.

"Who's 'she,' Mr. Wright?" I questioned. He fidgeted like a common criminal under my cross-examination. Maya tried to change the subject.

"I'm gonna try again to get an attorney's badge tomorrow, Polly," She smiled. "I've been trying to get one for years, but they always fail me at the Bar Exam. Last time I tried, I tried with Nick." I couldn't help myself. I had to ask.

"Why? Why become a lawyer? Why'd they fail you?" I sounded a bit blunt, but she didn't mind. She answered all the same.

"Well," Her eyes were glazed over, remembering the past, "They failed me 'cause it kind of wasn't _me_ who took the exam each time... I wanna be a lawyer because Nick was disbarred unfairly. We planned on helping him- Pearly and Sis and me. I was gonna become a lawyer and channel Sis when we got the chance to defend him... And Pearly was so willing to do anything to help him... It was all her plan..." She drifted off with a lonely look on her face.

"...Who're 'Pearly' and 'Sis,' Maya?" I asked my voice soft. My mind vaguely drifted back to the trial. So many times Maya had mentioned her sister, who basically raised her, and how Maya was blamed for her murder.

"Mia was Maya's sister, and my boss," Mr. Wright answered. He, too, had a glazed over look. "She was a great person, and a wonderful lawyer. And she was murdered for it."

"_'A defense lawyer has to smile the whole way through, or else they won't be able to smile at the end.'_" Maya recited, and smiled sadly. "Mia always said that. She got it from Mr. Armando..." She stared off into space for a moment, then smiled. "Pearly's my little cousin. She's smart and adorable and a great spirit medium!" Maya looked like a proud parent boasting about her child for a moment. Mr. Wright smiled.

"I haven't seen Pearls in almost seven years," he mused. "She's a year older than Trucy... Those two would be best friends if they ever met. I wonder how tall she's gotten..." Mr. Wright smiled. "You'd love her, too, Apollo."

"I would?" I asked, not sure if that would be good or not. The two nodded.

"After what happened to Nick, she convinced me to send her to school abroad... I haven't seen her almost as long as Nick's seen her." She suddenly smiled very, very widely. "In a few months, she's coming home!"

The front door opened. Trucy stood, trying to hold back tears, in the doorway. Mr. Wright went into worried parent mode.

"_Trucy_! What happened?" He asked, walking towards his daughter. She wiped away a stray tear, and flung herself into her father's arms. The next few hours went by in a flash. Trucy described how she was let out of school early because a girl in her grade- a girl Trucy knew- was found dead in the bathroom, by Trucy herself. Cause of death is not completely sure yet, but a bottle of pill was found near the girl. The forensic detective on the scene found three sets of fingerprints on the bottle. One belonging to the dead girl, one belonging to a teacher...

And the last belonging to Trucy.

Trucy told of how when she found the girl, she thought she passed out or something. She tried shaking her awake, but no dice. Then Trucy noticed the bottle, with the girl's fingers still wrapped around it. Trucy took the bottle from the girls' hand, then realized the girl was dead, and alerted everyone. Trucy doesn't wear her gloves during school. The teacher was currently in custody because of reasons Trucy was not sure, but the man was screaming about how it wasn't him, and he could never hurt the victim, that girl in particular, and Trucy had to be the murderer. By that point in her story, Trucy broke down into tears and could no longer speak. Mr. Wright stroked his daughter's hair and told her it would all be okay. She didn't believe him. She was too scared and sad to at the moment.

I completely forgot about what Mr. Wright was keeping from me.

--

_Author's Note:_ This is completely fictional, I just want to say. I think I put too much plot in... Constructive Criticism appreciated.


	13. Completely asexually, of course

_Author's Note_: NCIS, snow, art projects and homework. That is why I haven't been working on this fanfic much.

Let me just say one thing: Let random romances within the story begin.

Old/First description: _Apollo picked himself off the pavement after Trucy pushed him off the bus. It was up to him, of course. Prove the client innocent while Mr. Wright was hospitalized. Nothing is ever simple, though. Especially when Mr. Wright's involved. T to be safe._

I do not own Ace attorney.

--

The next few days would be hell for Trucy.

Mr. Wright immediately took her teacher's case. The man who blamed Mr. Wright's daughter. He had an open dislike for the man, but everyone knew why he did it. He was hell-bent on finding the girl's true murderer, and there was nothing that would stop him short of his own death. _'Even that probably wouldn't keep him from finding the truth this time,'_ I thought. _'Maya's a spirit channeler, after all.'_ I saw little of Mr. Wright or Maya on the first day of investigation. On occasion, they'd pop in, ask Trucy something, give her some pudding, show her a picture or evidence, give her a hug, promise everything will work out in the end, and leave. For some reason Mr. Wright did not think I could cheer Trucy up, so he called in someone to spend time with the two of us while we sat in the apartment, trying to keep her mind off of what happened.

The one person I did not expect him to call over was Lamiroir. I should have realized he wouldn't pick someone that made sense in the least bit.

Trucy cried on the older woman's shoulder as the older woman rubbed the younger's back like a caring mother.

"I-It's my fault!" Trucy exclaimed hysterically. Lamiroir shook her head.

"This is not your fault in the slightest," she bit her lip. "You poor... Child." She looked pained, and then glanced at me. I was sitting on the edge of the sofa, feeling out of place.

"I've never been good at comforting..." I trailed off. She looked at me with the same pained expression. I felt the sudden urge to spill my heart out to her. "...Especially with death..." It took all I could not to add that I grew up in an orphanage, and suddenly feeling incredibly lonely. I looked at Lamiroir and Trucy.

"...Come here, Apollo." The older one said. I complied, and went over to them. She pulled me into a hug with one arm, while she continued to hug the crying Trucy with the other. The door opened.

"...! Uh... Sorry..." Vera said from the door. I got up, walked a few feet, and pushed back my hair like I do when I'm embarrassed. She had a quizzical look as she looked the three of us over.

"Hi, Vera. Lamiroir was just comforting Trucy... Her classmate died..." She didn't respond. She just looked at the three of us like she was trying to figure out a puzzle. "And I was raised in an orphanage and..." I blurted out nervously and laughed, not knowing what to say.

"...Why...?" She asked, still looking like she was trying to figure out a puzzle. I realized then that I never told anyone that I had no parents- Not even Mr. Wright or Trucy. I vaguely noticed Lamiroir looking pained again.

"I don't have- don't _know_ my parents," I sighed. "Never did." Trucy sniffled and looked at me.

"R-Really, Polly?" She asked. I nodded. Before I knew it, she was hugging me so tight I couldn't breathe. "That's horrible! Even I knew my mommy and my first daddy for a while!" I slightly noticed my bracelet going off as Trucy talked about her mom. "I'm making daddy officially adopt you now! You need a family! I know you're my big little brother, but it needs to be official!" I twisted in her arms to look at her. In my peripheral vision, I saw Lamiroir weakly smile, and discreetly wipe away a tear.

"...Are you... Sure you... Don't know.. Your parents... Apollo?" Vera asked, looking from Lamiroir to Trucy, then finally me. A suspicious look was brewing behind her eyes.

"Of course I don't. Not knowing your family is not something you lie about," I declared. My bracelet went off, but I ignored it.

"...Really..." Vera looked at Lamiroir again. She seemed to have put together most of her mental puzzle, but was missing a few pieces, or did not like the picture. "...Sorry." She apologized to me. "...It's just..." She looked directly at Trucy, then me, and finally directly at Lamiroir as she said: "...Never mind. I'm sure... I'm just mistaken..." She said, then turned around and stepped out the door. "...Tell Mr. Wright... I'm taking... Today off..." She said as she closed the door.

"Vera, wait!" I yelled, and pushed Trucy off of me as I followed the blue haired woman. I caught up to her at the elevator, right as the door was about to close. I stuck my hand between the closing doors, keeping them open. She looked somewhat surprised as she looked at me.

"...Apollo...?" She asked. I stepped into the elevator, and looked at her.

"What were you mistaken about?" I pressed, and her eyes open in surprise and a slight bit of fear?

"...It's... Nothing..." She bit her nails.

"Vera, don't insult me like that. It's something."

She looked down at the floor as if she expected it to tell me her answer.

"...It's nothing..." She fought. I admit, I was impressed- She was standing near her claim, but I would not stand down.

"It's something," I insisted. She shook her head defiantly, and I sighed. The elevator floor teller thing beeped, and we reached the ground floor. As the elevator doors opened, I got an idea on how to figure out what Vera was hiding. "Want to grab something to eat?" I asked. Her eyes opened wide in shock and surprise.

"...Like a... Date...?" She asked, carefully. I felt my face turn red.

"N-Not necessarily! Between two friends and coworkers!" I laughed nervously. "Mr. Wright and Maya have lunch together alone all the time!" _'Although, I seriously doubt they're_ 'just friends'_... Trucy's getting to me...'_ Vera giggled.

"...Okay..."

--

We sat at on a bench near Guy Eldoon's noodle cart, eating unbearably salty noodles. It was quiet. Vera's question about it being a date and her giggle had driven my reason for asking her to lunch from my mind.

_'Is it a date? You _are_ a guy, and she's a girl who doesn't think you're her brother- And Vera IS over eighteen... But you're just friends, right? Dammit, Apollo! It's not a date! You're supposed to be pressing her- ACK! Not pressing! Questioning! Pressing sounds dirty! I have to call it questioning from now on! No more Pressing! But you're gonna forget! Ack! Off topic! Off topic! Supposed to be pressing- I mean questioning! Questioning a female friend completely asexually as you pay for her lunch! This would be _SO_ much easier if one of us was gay... Preferably her... Maybe that's the reason Mr. Wright and Maya stayed friends so long and never hooked up... After all, I don't think Mr. Wright's had a single girlfriend within the last decade...'_

I slammed my head onto the tree next to the bench. I was supposed to be getting information out of Vera, and here I was wondering about my boss's sexuality. _'Get. On. Topic. Justice.'_ I mentally scolded myself.

"Apollo?... Are you okay...?" Vera asked, genuinely concerned. I sat up, and massaged the side of my now throbbing head.

"I-I'm fine." I lied. "Vera, what are you hiding from me?" I asked, incredibly blunt. She did not seem to comprehend for a moment, and then something clicked. She looked down sadly.

"...Oh... That..." She sighed and bit her nail. "...That's why... You asked me here... Isn't it...?"

"No!" I lied, defensively. "No, no _no_! It's not! I like spending time with you! I'm just curious!" I declared. She turned her head to look at some people arguing across the street. I looked, too, but noticed the small smile on her face.

"...Fine..." She said. I jumped a little. _'Wow! Next time I need to know something she knows, I got to ask her out again- completely asexually, of course...'_ Vera cocked her head to the side, and then started to speak again. "...You look... Like her..." She stated. I stared, expecting more. "...You both do... And she looks... Like... But that's not... Possible..." Vera frowned.

"I look like who? Who looks like who? What's impossible?" I demanded. Vera flinched a little from my loud voice.

"...You and Trucy... Look like... Lamiroir... _Especially_ Trucy..." Vera stated. In my mind, I lined the two of them up next to each other. Never before had I noticed that they looked alike. But I didn't think I looked like Lamiroir in the least bit. Well, maybe I did... I'm not sure... _'I need a mirror.'_

"Who does she look like?" I asked Vera. "Why is it impossible?" The woman of the couple across the street slapped the man across the face.

"...It's impossible... Because she looks... Like a... Dead woman." Vera said. I turned my head to look at her so fast I got whiplash.

"What?" My noodles fell off my lap onto the street. I didn't care- The bowl was intact and if I ate any more of the noodles my blood would turn to salty broth. "Who?"

Vera opened her mouth to speak before my cell phone started ringing. I silently cursed Trucy for setting my ring tone to 'Guilty Love' as I flipped it open without even checking caller I.D.

"Apollo Justice," I stated.

_"Where the hell are you?"_ Asked a very angry Mr. Wright. _"Trucy is afraid you got hit by a bus!"_ He yelled into the phone. I held it at arm's length.

"I-I took Vera to lunch! It was a spur of the moment thing, Mr. Wright! Besides, Lamiroir is there, right?"

_"Yes, she is,"_ Mr. Wright sounded deadly. _"But Trucy is actually afraid you're dead in a gutter somewhere! And you are _not_ supposed to go on dates while you're supposed to be watching my distraught daughter!"_

"It isn't a date-"

_"Get home now, Apollo."_ He spat into the phone and hung up. Vera winced.

"...He's angry..." She commented. "...Maybe he's... Out of grape juice...?" She joked- I think.

"He's been like this ever since the case started. The only people who's heads he isn't verbally ripping off are Trucy and Maya. I gotta get home now or he'll have to defend himself in a murder case." I sighed.

We returned our noodle bowls to Mr. Eldoon and went out separate ways.

--

_Author's Note:_ I like ApolloxVera, dammit XD I had a blast writing Apollo's thoughts, by the way. That's actually pretty much how I think (Yes, most of my thoughts usually deteriorate to random pervertedness. I have perverted friends and we go to public school- Big surprise.) I'm not sure if Vera is very in character here... Also, I honestly just noticed how much Polly and Trucy look like Lamiroir. And she is gonna be around a lot now.


	14. I thought you were dead in a gutter!

_Author's Note_: I haven't updated in forever! I'm sorry! Lately I've been trying to write some original fiction, but my procrastination and ever changing mind keeps me from getting past the first chapter. Also, NCIS has been wiping Ace Attorney from my mind.

I do not own Ace Attorney.

--

I was almost afraid to walk through the apartment door. Mr. Wright was very angry on the phone, and I was almost afraid to see him in person. Almost.

"Fool, you're walking away from the apartment," Franziska was leaning against the wall. She shook her head in disgust. "Leaving now would only piss him off more. And you would have to deal with my whip," The whip-happy woman smirked evilly, and cracked her whip.

Damn it.

"I-Uh, I dropped something over there...!" I lied, desperate to escape the pain she would inflict on me.

It did not work.

**_CRACK!_**

"Ow!" I yelled, covering my face with my hands. The door flew open to reveal a Mr. Wright whose expression matched how he sounded on the phone. He gave me a look that looked angry, sad, and disappointed at the same time. It made me flinch a little.

"What took you so long?" He demanded. I looked up at him, and I guess I must have looked pathetic because his expression softened. "Trucy's been very worried. It's painful to see her like this, Apollo..." He sighed.

"I-I'm sorry... Vera was keeping something from me, and I just had to know..." I rubbed my neck nervously. Mr. Wright raised his eyebrows.

"Well? What was it? Was it worth making Trucy so worried?" He half demanded, half asked. I frowned.

"She said we look alike. Me, Trucy and Lamiroir. Especially Trucy and Lamiroir... I never really realized how much they looked alike until she said that," I commented. Mr. Wright suddenly got tense. I ignored it because Trucy suddenly appeared at the door and threw her arms around me. Her tear-filled, fearful eyes.

"Polly! Don't scare me like that!"

"I wasn't gone that long!"

"I thought you got hit by a car like daddy, only you died in the gutter!"

"Why would you think that?!" I yelled.

**_CRACK!_**

"DO NOT YELL AT A CRYING CHILD FOOL!"

--

It was the next day. Trucy, Lamiroir, Larry and I sat in the gallery on the defenses, as Mr. Edgeworth and Franziska sat on the prosecutions. At the defense bench stood Mr. Wright, reviewing some papers again last minute, and Maya. The black-haired woman glared daggers at the smiling blond prosecutor opposite of her.

"Is something the matter, Mystik Fraulein?" He asked sweetly. Maya glared even more.

"Get bent," She barked. Mr. Wright looked taken aback.

"Maya!" He exclaimed. Klavier didn't seem the least bit disturbed.

"Mad at me, ja? Is it because I made your Freund loose his job?" He asked. Mr. Edgeworth and Franziska snickered.

"My what?" Maya asked, confused. She looked at Mr. Wright, who was equally confused.

"I don't speak German," he shrugged, while Klavier continued smiling in a teasing matter.

"Or is it because of something else..." I could feel my bracelet go off. Maya started fiddling with her necklace. He noticed it and smiled. "It's something else, isn't it?" Maya glared.

"I just hate you. Now shut up," she spat. Mr. Wright looked like he was about to speak, but then the judge finally appeared. He flusteredly brushed some crumbs from his beard.

"Uh... Breakfast ran long... EHEM! Let the trial of Gil Tee begin."

--

_Author's Note_: Short! God damn it's too short! And not good enough! Oh well. Sorry for the wait...

Probably got the German wrong. Internet translator. Just went with the one that appeared the most.


	15. Trucy is not a murderer

_Author's Note_: Update! Yay! Celebrate! Sorry for taking so long... I don't even have an excuse anymore.

I do not own The Ace Attorney Franchise.

**_--_**

**_"OBJECTION!_**

**_"HOLD IT!"_**

**_"OBJECTION!"_**

**_"TAKE THAT!"_**

**_"OBJECTION!"_**

**_"OBJECTION!"_**

I sat on the edge of my seat as Mr. Wright and Klavier battled it out in the first part of the trial. Mr. Wright pointed out flaws in Ema's detective work, she and Klavier defended it, and then Mr. Wright stood by his claim and suggested something else.

I had seen tapes of his trials before, but they were much more exciting live.

"Polly...?" Trucy whispered to me as Ema snackoo'd Klavier from the witness stand. She had thrown thousands at the prosecutor, but not a single at the defense.

"Yeah?" I responded, only half-listening. Trucy fidgeted.

"Mr. Tee couldn't have killed Em," she sighed. I gave her my full attention. This was the first time I was hearing the victim's name. "He could never kill her... And I didn't kill her, so who did?" She wiped away a tear. I pitied her.

"Well, your daddy is going to find out." I stated confidently. Trucy sniffled, and reminded me very much of a small child.

"What if they hurt daddy and Mystic Maya? They're the closest thing I have to parents..." She asked. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lamiroir bite her lip and look like she would burst into tears.

"I promise they'll be fine, Trucy." I smiled reassuringly. She nodded, wiped away her tears, and looked sadly at the defense team.

"If anything happens to them, you have to save them, Polly," She told me, without looking in my direction. "-Because you promised, and because you're my brother now. And I will be mad if you break your promise, and you don't wanna make a magician mad." I smiled.

"If they get themselves arrested or stabbed or something, I'll save them, Trucy." I joked. "I promise. They're the closest I have to family, too."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lamiroir in silent tears.

"Why are you defending this man, Herr Wright?" Klavier asked from behind his desk, as Ema munched on her snackoos. Mr. Wright looked at him, and sighed. He was about to speak, but the judge banged his gavel.

"As much as I would like to hear Mr. Wright's reason, we need a fifteen minute recess- I drank too much at breakfast... Court will reconceive in fifteen minutes!" He declared, then got up and raced out of the room.

--

"You're doing pretty well, Mr. Wright!" I complimented the man. He stood there quietly, as did the defendant, Maya, and everyone else. By everyone else, I mean Trucy. We were the only ones in the defendant's lounge. "I didn't expect you to be so livid after an eight year break!" Nothing. "Ema even doubted her own work!" Nada. "I bet you intimidated Klavier!" Quiet as a grave yard. "You'll find the girl's real murderer in no time!" his time, I got a reaction. The teacher glared at me, then Mr. Wright, and finally Trucy.

"_Wright's_ not going to find Emily's murderer," he spat, looking directly at Trucy. Trucy grabbed my arm and hid behind me like a frightened child. Mr. Wright looked at him with disgust. "_Wright_ doesn't _want_ to find Emily's murderer..." Mr. Wright stepped up to Mr. Tee.

"Trucy has nothing to do with Emily's death, Gil," Mr. Wright warned. "She just found her, and she's acting a hell of a lot more upset than you," He spat.

_What_?

"You think your kid's more upset about his than me? She killed Emily!" He yelled. "Now she's feeling guilty!" I heard Trucy sob in fear behind me.

"Trucy won't even kill a spider! She'd never kill a classmate!" The girl's father defended. Maya stepped up to Mr. Tee, who was a good two feet taller than her.

"We're defending you! We know you didn't kill Em, we know Trucy didn't kill Em, so shut up!" She yelled. Mr. Wright and the defendant took a step back. "She's an innocent by standard of all this! If some other kid walked into the bathroom and found her sprawled on the floor, you'd blame her! You're afraid of the truth, and afraid this may be your fault, so you blame someone else! Just shut up!"

Everyone was shocked. After about then seconds, Mr. Tee tried to respond.

"What? I- You- She..." He glared at Maya, who returned the favor. "Bitch."

The bailiff started shouting something about court reconceiving soon, and the defendant needing to get back in. Slowly, everyone but I and Mr. Wright filed into the court. I turned to him.

"Mr. Wright, why are you defending this man?" I asked. He glared into the courtroom, and sighed.

"He may be blaming Trucy, but he's innocent," he stated.

"How do you know?" I pressed. He turned to me with anguish on his face.

"Because no man would kill his own daughter."

--

_Author's Note_: Poor Gil. Sorta. At the moment. First Bunny Rabbit and Jack Rabbit, now Gil Tee and Em Tee- I am so original at naming families, right? I tried very hard at making him act very bastardish. And the judge is acting a little too goofy... Oh well. I skipped on the court scenes for a reason, by the way. Constructive Criticism appreciated, comments appreciated even more.


	16. I want a taco, Polly

_Author's Note_: According to my computer, I have a virus or something. It's not even three months old, I never uploaded anything other than iTunes, (Hell, it didn't even upload right!) and I barely go on eight sites (this being on of them). I'm just a little pissed. Oh well. Oh- School's a bitch.

Don't own Phoenix Wright or Apollo Justice.

--

I stared blankly at Mr. Wright.

"What?" I asked, positive I didn't hear what he said right. "Emily was... His _daughter_?" The look on his face confirmed it. I felt my jaw hang open in disbelief. He walked back into the courtroom, leaving me alone in the defendant's lobby. I wasn't sure why it affected me like this, but I found it horrible. A man was being accused of his own daughter's death. I had a feeling that it somehow struck a sensitive chord in Mr. Wright, and he wasn't defending the man purely for Trucy's sake. I jumped as the doors to the court closed and made a loud sound that reminded me of my last trial. I vaguely remembered something Maya had hissed at Bunny Rabbit, the murderous sister.

"_At least you weren't framed for murdering your sister who basically raised you,_" she had said. Mr. Wright must have known how tough it was on Maya, and he himself knew how it felt to be accused of murdering someone close to him, and wanted to help the man. I sighed and walked to the wall, a few feet from the bench, and sunk to the ground. I wasn't going to interrupt the trial, and I didn't have anywhere to be. I sat in silence for a few minutes before two girls walked up to me. They were both about Trucy's age. They stared at me for a moment.

"There's a bench right there," The taller one stated with a sarcastic tone. She was blond, dressed in a tee-shirt and jeans, and chewing bubble gum. The other girl, a brunette, scored about a seven on the weird-looking scale. The brunette shook her head, mumbled something under her breath, and put her head against the door to listen to the trial.

"They're bad luck," I stated, quietly. The blond raised her eyebrows. "Long story. My mentor drilled it into my head," I sighed. "And Trucy hits me every time I even think about sitting on one." The girl raised her eyebrows even more.

"Trucy? So you must be her brother, Apollo..." She stated, and looked me over once or twice. "She was right about your head."

"What did she say about my head?"

"Nothing."

The brunette girl at the door motioned over for the blond. "They're about to call you up." She stated, and then the bailiff opened the door. The blond girl smiled at us, and walked into the court. The brunette girl walked over to me, and slid down onto the floor like me.

"You could sit on the benches," I said in a joking tone. Her expression had been pained since the moment I saw her, and it did not change.

"Can't. These benches are bad luck," She sighed, and stared off into space.

"How would you know that...?" I asked, somewhat suspicious. She looked me over, much differently than the blond girl had.

"It's a long story," She smirked slightly. I frowned. This girl was also sixteen, seventeen at the oldest.

"Shouldn't you be in school?" I asked. She glared at me.

"Shouldn't _you_ be in school?" She retorted. I scoffed.

"_I've_ already graduated law school! This is my second year as a defense attorney." The girl looked at me with interest in her eyes. "Of course, my boss took this case... It hit sorta close to home..." I rambled. "His daughter found the body... Poor Trucy... It's driving Mr. Wright insane, saving this guy..." The girl's eyebrows shot up in surprise, and then became incredibly tense. She turned her head away from me, and spoke with a very stiff voice.

"You're old for the average age of lawyers that come out of Europe." She stated. I stared at her in surprise. "They are fast with making their kids into 'prodigies,'" She made air-quotes with her fingers.

"Who are you?" I asked, somewhat annoyed.

"Wouldn't you like to know," She chuckled.

"What?" I asked, stupidly.

"Forget it." She got up and walked to the other side of the room and sat against the wall. _'Fine, then!'_ I thought. We sat in silence for about an hour before a large amount of people filed out of the court. I felt someone tug at my arm.

"Polly!" Trucy exclaimed, pulling me to my feet. "What happened?" She asked me. I sighed.

"I didn't get in time, so I waited outside," I said, vaguely wondering about the brunette girl. Why did she just wait outside like she did? "There was this weird girl out here..." I said, absent-mindedly. "She looked..." I tried to figure out the right description as Mr. Wright and Maya walked up. Maya seemed miffed about something, and Mr. Wright had the same dark aura he had during this entire ordeal. "She looked a bit like Maya." I stated. Maya snapped her attention to me.

"Who looked like me?" She asked, warily.

"This girl who was out here... She didn't really look like you, but sorta... Dressed like you. Only different." I said. Maya tried to figure out what I said.

"...What?" She asked, confused. Mr. Wright scanned the crowd for someone, but would not loose the opportunity to insult me.

"Your descriptional skills are second to no one, Apollo," He jabbed. His eyes lit up as he found who he was looking for, and started waving his arm in the air. "Edgeworth! Over here!" Mr. Edgeworth just looked away and walked out of the court. "Bastard," Mr. Wright muttered under his breath and pulled Maya towards the door. "Apollo! Take Trucy to lunch, she needs food," He barked back at me. I sighed.

"I want a taco, Polly."

--

_Author's Note_: I'm not sure where the taco part comes from. Trying to add some humor to a fic that is slowly becoming more and more dramatic or suspenseful or something by the chapter? I swear, it was supposed to be a humorous fanfic, but now me and my teenage girl natural drama liking is starting to shine through a bit. Damn. Oh, remember the brunette and blond. They ain't gone.


	17. Down at the Taco Hut

_Author's Note_: Gah! Sorry for taking so long! This chapter's going to focus a lot on Trucy and Apollo's brother-sister relationship. I think I made her too moody, but she is pretty moody at times in the game, and her friend did just die... Ah, well. Don't own Phoenix Wright. Or Taco Hut, which is a combination of Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. Dunno why I decided to go with it, but oh well.

--

I sat down at a table in Taco Hut with a tray of food, and handed Trucy her portion. She smiled before taking a rather large bite out of her taco. I sighed. I left the court with twenty dollars in my pocket, and after an eleven dollar bus ride, I ended up forking over $8.59 for the food, leaving me with a whopping 41 cents left in my unbearably thin wallet. _And_ I dropped the penny by accident into the garbage. Trucy wiped her face.

"Thank you Polly!" She smiled before taking a sip of her soda. "I couldn't eat breakfast, and I forgot to eat dinner last night..." She trailed off, staring past my head. Come to think of it, has she properly eaten since her friend died? With a horrible mental image of Trucy becoming skin and bones and starving to death, I pushed my half of the food towards her. She raised her eyebrows. "Apollo?"

"I'm not hungry," I lied, before my growling stomach betrayed me. She gave me a look, a look that made me take a fry and shove it in my mouth. She smiled a little and took another bite of her food. "But you've barely eaten since this whole thing started. I'm scared for you," I grimaced. The pills that killed Emily were a combination of diet and sleeping pills. Trucy hasn't been able to sleep lately, and she IS a teenage girl- what if she developed some eating disorder? She's barely been eating, after all! Would she end up dead in a bathroom, too? I shuddered at the very thought. Trucy looked at me with concerned eyes. "I don't want my sister getting hurt." I smiled meekly. Trucy busted into tears, and before I knew it, she enveloped me in a tight hug.

"Polly, you really mean it?!" She wailed, gaining the attention of everyone in the Taco Hut. I tried to speak, but could not breath. She got the message. Letting go of me, she smiled brightly. "You're the best unrelated brother I've ever had!" She laughed. I couldn't help but smile back- She could make anyone smile, even Vera. Something in the back of my head nagged at me about something Vera said.

_'You all look alike.'_

I pushed it out of my mind as a familiar man in orange burst through the doors. Larry gritted his teeth, and hugged us both at the same time.

"Polly! Trucy!" He exclaimed. I groaned- Now _HE'S_ calling me Polly. Trucy giggled. "Nick sent me to _check up_ on you two!" He said, accidentally emphasizing 'check up.' He let go of us, and seemed sort of agitated. "Hey, Trucy, you should go to the bathroom!" He suggested.

"Okay, Uncle Larry..." She said, somewhat confused, but complied. Once she disappeared behind the door, Larry turned to me.

"_Dude_! What the hell?" He demanded. I flinched from his outburst. "You and Trucy- You're- And she's- It's illegal! Nick'll kill you!" He yelled. I scrunched up my nose in confusion.

"Calm down, Larry- What are you talking about?" I asked, warily. I knew I wouldn't like the answer.

"You and Trucy," He pointed at me, speaking slowly, like to a child," Are getting it on, aren't you?" He accused. I could feel my face distort in disgust and repulsion.

"What? No! Never!" I spat in response. "She's like a sister- that's it!" Larry's suspicious eyes didn't lighten. "And it IS illegal," I glared. He looked surprised.

"You know?" He asked, obviously surprised. I rolled my eyes.

"Of _course_ I know," I retorted. He looked somewhat nervous.

"How'd you find out?" He asked, sweating a little. I rolled my eyes again.

"I'm a _lawyer_. I _have_ to know laws," I stated. He looked more surprised. "And it is illegal for me to 'get it on' with a minor," He was dumbfounded.

"Minor?" He asked. "Like the under eighteen ones?" I nodded. Larry looked... relieved? He laughed. "Yeah- THAT'S what I was talkin' about! I knew that!" He rubbed the back of his head. My bracelet went off.

"_Larry_..." I started, positive my eyes were red and bulging, seeing that he shrank back. "You're hiding something from me..." He was so twitchy, it was too easy. "And I can see it."

"Heh, heh... Trucy!" He called, wishing for the girl to come and save him. I shook my head.

"You're going to tell me, Larry," I stated, right before Trucy came out of the bathroom. She smiled at the both of us, linking her arms with ours, and dragged us out the door. Despite her happy appearance, I could feel her hurting, see her puffy eyes. Trucy needed help.

"Where we going?" Larry asked, after a few minutes of walking in silence. Trucy smiled at him again.

"I dunno, Uncle Larry," She said sweetly. I sighed.

"Why don't we find Mr. Wright?" I suggested, wanting to know why he would send Larry to check on us- I mean seriously, _Larry_? Trucy nodded.

"Okay, let's go find daddy!" She let go of us and skipped ahead.

--

Author's Note: If you haven't noticed, Larry knows they're siblings. And it's killing him to keep the secret. He was talking about incest when Apollo was talking about the minor thing (Not sure if it's a law, but I think it is...) I wasn't sure if I should have gone with Larry or a different guy (one of Trucy's classmates, who's an original character, sort of,) to break up their emotionfest. You'll meet the other guy eventually. Sorry it's so short, too!


	18. Suicide Sucks

_Author's Note_: I was gonna have a chapter up on April Fools Day, but that didn't happen. Sorry. Been hooked on NCIS fanfiction.

Warning: This chapter is very angsty. And filled with Trucy/Phoenix Father-daughter fluff, and at least twice as much Trucy/Apollo Sibling Fluff. I don't support them as romantic parings, though. Let me just say this: I am very mean to Trucy. I don't mean to be, I love Trucy (asexually)! But I can't help it- I can't help but make her miserable. I promise she'll get to be happy for a while soon. There's only about a chapter or two left of this trial, and then it'll finally get light hearted and funny again. For what was supposed to be humorous, this is a pretty angsty and dark fanfiction... Sorry about that.

Don't own the Ace Attorney franchise.

--

It took a while, but we finally found Mr. Wright visiting Mr. Tee in the detention center. The three of us were about to walk into the room when we heard yelling.

"Dammit, this is _not_ her fault!" Mr. Wright yelled. I heard a slamming noise, and assumed he must have slammed his hands onto the table. "Leave her out of this!"

"She's the only one who could have done it, Wright!" Spat another voice- the defendant. We heard another slam.

"Trucy wouldn't hurt a fly, you bastard!" That voice was female... _Maya_? I glanced to my side. Trucy looked terrified. It was a miracle she could keep herself from crying.

"She found her friend dead, Gil! She's hurt- more than you, it seems. So leave my daughter _out_ of this!" Mr. Wright demanded. Mr. Tee laughed mirthlessly.

"Friend? Emily hated her! And she is not your daughter!"

"_WHAT_?" Mr. Wright spat. I glanced at the girl again- Trucy was definitely crying.

"She's not related to you, you quack lawyer! You adopted her after you blew your last case!" The defendant taunted. "Why should you give a damn about-"

"You _DON'T_ need to be related to someone to be their family! And you certainly can care about someone without them being family!" Maya hissed. It sounded like something that was deeply rooted into her head.

"Her family abandoned her- I took her in. She's my daughter." I could almost feel Mr. Wright glare in his voice. "I'm defending you for her- I'm going to find out what happened to _your_ daughter for _my_ daughter. I refuse to let her go another day in _misery_- She's been through too much for her age." There was a sound of a chair moving. "I don't care what happens to you anymore, you bastard. My only concern for the moment is for my daughter." He had a tone of finality in his voice. There were foot steps, and the doorknob started to turn.

"Go to hell, Tee." Maya spat before Mr. Wright opened the door. The three of us, Trucy, Larry, and I, stood shocked near the doorway. Trucy had started crying a while ago, but started bawling when she saw Mr. Wright. His face seemed to distort in fatherly pain when he looked at his crying daughter.

"Oh, Daddy...!" She sobbed as she threw her arms around Mr. Wright. He rubbed her back soothingly and glared at Larry and me over her head as she buried her face in his chest and continued to sob.

"Trucy, honey, what are you doing here?" He asked, quietly, but I knew the question was directed at Larry and me.

"We-well..." Larry stuttered. "Polly took her to get a taco-"

"Then he came," I cut Larry off, barely able to stop myself from stuttering. "And started yelling at me like a freak-"

"Then Trucy came out of the bathroom-"

"And we left the Taco Hut-"

"And _he_," Larry jabbed his thumb in my direction, "W-Wanted to find you-" Larry stuttered as he passed the blame to me. I would _not_ get blamed for this!

"But _he_ knew you'd be here-"

"Don't blame this on _me_!" Larry spat, glaring at me.

"You tried to blame me _first_!" I defended myself. We continued to bicker until Mr. Wright cleared his throat, and we immediately shut up from the glare he gave us.

"Come on, Trucy... Let's go home." He said to his still crying daughter. Trucy nodded into his chest. As the five us were leaving the detention center, Mr. Wright and Trucy lead the way out. Maya lingered behind, and then punched Larry and me in our shoulders. I winced- For a small woman, she could hit hard. I pitied Mr. Wright momentarily- The two of them told so many stories that involved Maya hitting, kicking, slapping, and pretty much beating him up.

"_What the hell?!_" She hissed under her breath. "You probably mentally _scarred_ her!"

"We didn't know you guys would be fighting with him! Fight less loud next time!" Larry responded, rubbing his shoulder. Maya hit him again, causing Larry to curse colorfully.

"Is he still defending Tee?" I asked, trying to change the subject. Maya continued to glare, but nodded curtly.

"Nick ain't gonna let some bastard who killed a kid get away." She said, then scrunched up her nose. "Actually... We're pretty sure it was suicide, but we're not sure... This one kid still looks sorta suspicious..." She sighed. "Nick's never been this mad, at least not when I was around. I miss the old Nick, who was a complete tool half the time but in his own brilliantly awesome way." Larry snickered.

"Heheh... You called Nick a tool." Maya and I rolled our eyes.

"Only half the time- as opposed to you, who is a tool all of the time."

"Hey!"

--

It was either late at night or early in the morning when I woke up and had to go to the bathroom. I practically sleep walked through the messy apartment. As I made my way back to the lumpy couch which I had long ago taken up residence on, I noticed Trucy's room to be empty. There was a small sticky note taped to the door, and in chicken-scratch hand writing was written:

_To Polly, Daddy, or whoever finds this, if anyone finds this._

_Don't be worried, I'm on the roof. I just needed air._

_Love, Trucy._

I took the note off the door and stuck it in my pocket. I got back to the lumpy couch and looked under it, and found my fuzzy red slippers. Within seconds, I was racing out the door and up the stairs. A few flights later the door to the roof flew open, and I shivered from the sudden rush of cold air. My eyes scanned the roof, finding no one.

"Trucy...?" I called out, unsure.

"Polly...?" A small voice sobbed behind me. I turned on my heels, to find my surrogate little sister sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall of the stairs. I smiled weakly at her and slumped down next to her, rubbing my bare arms from the cold- My pajama top was an under shirt. Trucy didn't seem to have the same problem because she wore a fuzzy blue robe.

"Hey..." I started. She looked away from me, to hide her tears. "What are you doing up here?"

"Just... Needed some air." She lied. She knew I knew she was lying, because she sighed and looked me in the eye. "Crying. I didn't want you or daddy to hear me." I put my arm around her in a brotherly hug.

"I'm scared for you." I admitted. She looked at me in surprise. "You're going through pure _hell_ here. I've never seen you so upset, and you're trying to hide it. That's not healthy, Trucy." I heard her sob quietly. "Your bastard teacher blames you for your friend's death-"

"She didn't like me." Trucy interjected.

"_No one _can dislike you," I said, telling her what I thought. I really did think it was hard for people to dislike Trucy.

"Liar." She said, mirthlessly. I sighed and continued.

"Your bastard teacher blames you for your friend's death because you went through the trauma of finding her, when she probably committed suicide." Trucy looked at me, a tortured look in her eyes. "Was she depressed?"

"...She seemed sad a lot." Trucy admitted. "Her mommy left her and her daddy, and her boyfriend just broke up with her. She was always complaining about her grades being bad, and the mean pretty girls made fun of her for her daddy being the chemistry teacher," I cringed, remembering my own high school experience.

"One of my friends tried to kill himself when I was your age," I confided in her. Tears welled up in her eyes. "Hung himself. His aunt found him... Just barely in time." I fudged the ending. It was probably best for Trucy to believe he survived. "His parents were murdered less than a month before," My eyes were cold. With my free hand, I wiped away the tears that started to build up in them. "...He saw it happen. The real murderer got off. His uncle got falsely convicted, and went to jail."

"Polly, that's horrible...!" She exclaimed. I nodded.

"That's why I became a lawyer- To save the innocent, even if they aren't the ones on trial." I felt myself sob. Trucy threw her arms around me. For what felt like an eternity, the two of us sat on the roof, crying. I must have nodded off, because Trucy nudged me awake what felt like a short while later. I rubbed my eyes. She didn't say a word as she pointed towards the east, which we were facing, to the sun barely rising on the horizon, bathing the city in a yellow and orange tint. It was breath taking. I looked at Trucy.

For the first time since her own personal hell had started, she genuinely smiled.

--

_Author's Note:_ I had to. I just had to. I can't imagine the reason for Polly going into law being a happy one. I've had the roof scene in my head forever. Along with the beginning scene with them listening to Nick and Maya yell at Tee. No; No one I know has ever tried to or succeeded in killing themselves, but the whole concept still makes me sick to my stomach. Why anyone would ever actually think self-inflicted death was the only option, without considering friends and family, is beyond me.


	19. Cause Jeelyfish are spineless

_Author's Note:_ Written late at night because I've had off of school for the last week and a half, and I come up with stuff a lot more at night- Probably the reason I have problems sleeping. The computer's gotta be damaging my eyes. A bit Phoenix/Maya here. I like it. And I bet Trucy would love it. Starting to be nicer to her, but she's a little OOC here. I dunno. I sort of applied my own method of dealing with sadness to here- Piss off the people you love by being annoying and a little mean, but trying to be funny. It's not the healthiest way to cope, but it gets the job done if you don't end up feeling guilty about something mean you said. Yeah, I have issues.

Don't own Ace Attorney. McBurger Queen, and my new random OC, however...

--

A few hours later, we, Trucy, Mr. Wright, Maya, Larry and I, stood outside the courthouse. Mr. Wright adjusted his tie nervously, and then tried to smooth out his rumpled, wrinkly button-up shirt before he gave up and just buttoned his suit jacket. Maya sighed as he ended up skipping a button and one half of his suit was awkwardly sticking out more at the top and too short at the bottom.

"Nick, how old are you?" She asked as she started unbuttoning the top of his suit for him like he was a child.

"Thirty-four," He responded nonchalantly as she finished unbuttoning and started rebuttoning.

"And you still can't button your suit?" She asked, sarcastically. He rolled his eyes, but chose to not reply. Trucy nudged me and pointed at them, and giggled. I didn't have to ask- She thought they looked like a couple. She was right- they looked and bickered like they were married or something half the time. Larry raised his eyebrows suggestively.

"She unbutton your shirt a lot for you, Nick?" He asked and received a glare from both of them. Trucy's eyes sparkled. _Oh crap._

"It's okay if she does, daddy!" She interjected. "I love Mystic Maya! I would love it if you married her already and she became my mommy!" Mr. Wright turned pink from embarrassment and started spluttering something out about 'just being friends,' stuttering a lot, while Maya also turned a pink hue and stopped buttoning Mr. Wright's jacket immediately. "You agree, right, Polly?" Suddenly, I wish I was anywhere else as Larry laughed his ass of, very unhelpfully.

"Well, Polly?" Mr. Wright asked dangerously. I felt myself twitch nervously. Trucy and I, and occasionally Vera and Larry, have had conversations about the two of them- Mr. Wright and Maya. We pondered about if they were secretly together, if they ever were together, and if they would ever get together. We even joked around about what they'd name their kid, which Vera actually drew.

"I-I-Uh..." I stuttered as his glaring eyes pierced holes in my skull. Soon, Maya joined him, as Trucy looked at me expectantly. Larry continued to laugh, and started pointing at me. In the back of my mind, I wished for him to get hit by a meteor. "I think we gotta go in now..." I said weakly, pointing at the clock on my phone. Mr. Wright's face suddenly became nervous.

"Oh crap! We can't be later than the judge!" He said, before grabbing Maya's arm and dragging her into the courthouse, and into the proper courtroom. Trucy squeed quietly at Mr. Wright grabbing Maya as we also ran into the court, and filed into the gallery. Trucy sat between me and Larry on the defense's side.

"You could have been more subtle," I told her, referring to her telling Mr. Wright and Maya to get married. "And don't involve me." I demanded with a strict tone, determined to drop the subject after that. She looked up at me shrewdly for a moment, before smirking evilly and putting on an angel face.

"Why?" She asked, innocently. Hell, she even nailed the sad puppy dog eyes. I felt my resolve crack as Mr. Wright's had, too, so many times before for whatever he told her 'no' to.

"B-Because your dad scares me at times." I confessed. She smirked to herself, as Larry's ears perked up.

"You're afraid of Nick?" He asked, receiving a glare from me. He seemed impervious to it as he continued to smile stupidly. Damn him.

"But you're my brother, Polly!" Trucy exclaimed, ignoring Larry. She continued to unfairly use the puppy dog eyes against me.

"Brothers and sisters usually fight," I stated. "We probably get along better than most."

"Dude, it's okay that he scares you. Although that totally makes you a jellyfish or something," Larry went on, being ignored by both me and Trucy.

"Okay..." Trucy paused. She wasn't going to concede defeat this easily- she was going to change her battle plan. "But whose scarier, Polly?"

"What?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"Cause jellyfish are spineless," Larry continued.

"Whose scarier, a lawyer who cares about laws and would never hurt you, or a sad and angry magician who can make it look like an accident?" She asked, her eyes laughing. I swallowed- She never threatened me like that before.

"And spineless people are 'fraidy cats- OW!" Trucy jammed Larry in the gut with her elbow, and he cursed, but shut up afterwards. I sighed. She was acting very un-Trucyish today. I scrunched up my nose.

"Are you okay, Trucy?" I asked, concerned. She nodded. "Cause you seem... Off. More violent. More Maya-ish." I mentally compared her to the night before- crying, sniffling Trucy versus a somewhat violent Trucy. Her eyes momentarily got dark when I asked if she was okay.

"I'm fine." She lied. I was going to push on, but the judge finally appeared, once again brushing away crumbs from his beard.

--

A short while later, a teenage boy stood at the stand. He was approximately sixteen, and was on the short side for his age, barely three inches taller than Trucy. His dark-brown, almost black hair messily stuck out in tufts from under his backwards blue baseball cap. He wore an open blue and white checkerboard sweatshirt over a black shirt with emerald triangles printed in a random manner on it. He had baggy jeans, kept up with a white belt. His dark colored, innocent eyes darted from Mr. Wright, to Klavier, to the judge, to the man in the defendant's seat. Mr. Tee obviously disliked this boy, but he still smiled sheepishly to everyone. Trucy stared at him intensely.

"Name and occupation, ja?" Klavier demanded.

"Tr-Truman." The boy stated. "Truman Wong. I- Uh... I work at McBurger Queen on the weekends and after school... But I kind of wanna quit." He laughed nervously. Mr. Wright sighed.

"Truman..." He started softly. Truman snapped his attention to Mr. Wright. "You go to the public Highschool, right?"

"Yeah, Mr. Wright. I'm in your daughter and Em's chemistry class," He smiled again, and then gestured to Mr. Tee. "The Tee man's our teacher." I glanced at Trucy, who giggled quietly.

"The Tee man?" I asked. She nodded.

"That's what some of the student's call 'em." Looking down at the defendant, I doubted he liked the name 'The Tee man.'

--

_Author's Note:_ Truman Wong. Sounds sort of like a bad man-parody of Trucy Wright, don't it? Bear with me, there's a method to my madness- And no, he's not her long-lost twin or any of that crap. Also, I love writing Larry, Apollo, and Trucy at the same time. Expect more of that.


	20. The strength to smile

_Author's Note_: Last chapter of Nick's case! And major plot twist at the end, but don't just jump down! It'll spoil it! Oh; More Trucy/Apollo Sibling fluff. Not as much as some other chapters, but it's there. I think I rushed the end of this case a little, but oh well. And Trucy gets some closure.

Don't own anything other than a few crappy original characters.

--

For a while, Mr. Wright cross examined Truman, who started to fumble over his words and was visually nervous.

"Man, I swear I didn't kill Em- I've seen your trials, I've heard Trucy tell how you make the baddest badguys cry, I didn't do it! Please don't make me go to jail!" Truman eventually blurted out after Mr. Wright asked him a question. The older man and Maya exchanged glances, and I heard Trucy and Larry both snicker.

"I make the baddest badguys cry?" He asked, warily. Across from the defense attorney, Klavier laughed.

"He must be referring to your piano playing, Herr Wright, ja?" He laughed as Maya glared.

"Don't make fun of Nick's piano playing!" She scolded the blond man angrily. Mr. Wright smiled fondly at her.

"Thank you, Maya, I didn't know you liked it," He seemed actually gain a little bit of self-esteem.

"I don't. It sucks," She stated as Mr. Wright's esteem immediately left him. He shook his head, before turning his attention back to Truman.

"I won't put you in jail if you didn't do it, Truman, but please answer the question- What was your relationship with Emily?" He asked, and Truman shrunk back,biting his lip nervously. He hesitated, before looking at Mr. Tee.

"Em used to be my girlfriend... We hid it from The Tee man 'cause he would fail me in Chemistry class..." He admitted, looking ashamed of himself. He almost looked like he would cry. Mr. Wright pushed on, anyway.

"What do you mean 'used to,'" He asked, and Truman sighed. I glanced at Trucy, remembering what she said last night- Em's boyfriend broke up with her.

"I-I broke up with her a day before she died..." He admitted, tears seemed to form in his eyes. "She was tired of keepin' our relationship a secret, I thought she cheated on me, and I... I sorta liked a different girl, and I didn't wanna cheat on her..." He looked at Mr. Wright, miserably. "I swear, Mr. Wright, I'd never kill anyone. I didn't kill Em," Mr. Wright and Maya whispered to each other, before he looked back at the court.

"I don't think you killed her, Truman." Mr. Wright stated. The judge creased his brow, and asked the million dollar question:

"Then who did, Mr. Wright?" He asked. Mr. Wright shuffled around in the court record, before pulling out a profile.

"**_TAKE THAT!_**" He declared, showing a picture of a curly-haired brunette girl with blue eyes encased in glasses. "Emily Tee... Killed Emily Tee." Between the angry shouts from Mr. Tee and the uproar from the gallery, the judge had to smash his gavel down twice.

"_**OBJECTOIN!**_" The blond man at the prosector's desk yelled as he hit the wall behind him, visually angry. "You have no way to prove this, Herr Wright!"

"_**OBJECTION!**_" Mr. Wright yelled back, slamming his palms down onto the desk. "The pills that killed the victim could have been put in the bottle herself! The only reason the defendant was accused is because his fingerprints are on the bottle and it was percribed to him! It was his daughter! He bought the prescription of sleeping pills, she stole them, put in diet pills to get a deadly reaction between the two, and downed the bottle!"

"_**OBJECTION**_!" Klavier was now pissed, hitting his fist onto the desk and in a cold, angry sweat. "We have no way of knowing if she did-"

"_**OBJECTION**_!" A girl yelled. Every one in the court looked to Maya... Who wasn't Maya anymore. She was a good four inches shorter, and her straight black hair was now curly like the victim's. She squinted her eyes, as if she lost her glasses. Mr. Wright noticed this and pulled out a pair of glasses from the court record- Emily's glasses. It took me a moment to register that Maya had channeled the spirit of Emily Tee. Em took the glasses from Mr. Wright's hands and shoved them on, before looking around sadly. "I... I'm..." She started to sob. Mr. Tee looked heartbroken, and Truman looked hurt and confused as he started to cry.

"Em... You're... You're...!" He tried to speak. The judge looked down from his seat.

"Maya Fey?" He asked, the question directed at Mr. Wright.

"She's a spirit channeler, your honor, you remember," He said emotionlessly, still looking at the person next to him. "Currently, she is channeling the spirit of the late Emily Tee." The gallery seemed to riot, and the judge had to call for a recess.

--

"Did you kill yourself?" Mr. Wright demanded from the girl once we were in the Defendant's lobby. She just stared at her father, who stared back.

"Em..." His voice cracked.

"Dad..." She sobbed, before throwing her arms around him. "Oh, dad!" He hugged her back, his face looking distorted, trying to figure out if the girl really was his daughter.

"Emily," Mr. Wright asked again, and was ignored. "Emily!" He barked, and the girl looked him in the eyes. They held mild conptempt for the man, and she didn't bother to cover it up. _'Must run in the family.'_ "Your father was accused of your murder. Did you kill yourself?" He demanded. She glared at him, before speaking.

"I'm not telling you," She spat. Mr. Wright glared at her. Behind me, Trucy stared incredioulously at her dead friend, seeming like she was about to cry. I saw Truman striding towards us out of the corner of my eye.

"Em! Em!" He exclaimed. "Is it true? Did you kill yourself?" His eyes pleaded for her to answer. For a moment, she looked remorseful, before becoming angry again.

"Why would you care?!" She put her hands on her hips, and snarled. "You don't care about me!" She yelled, and stormed off into the women's bathroom. Mr. Wright cursed under his breath as Trucy raced after Emily. I followed, worrying for Trucy. I didn't dare go into the bathroom, though, and shoved my ear up against the door.

"Em!" Trucy exclaimed, her voice pained. "Em, please, tell us what happened!" She begged.

"Why should I tell you?!" Emily cried, her voice cracking a little. "I blame you!" She yelled.

"Me?!" Trucy's voice jumped up an octave. "But-But I... You're my friend!" She started to cry. "I would never hurt anyone...! I hate hurting...!" She sobbed, and I felt my heart break a little for my sister.

"Dammit, you didn't kill me stupid. Noone did. I didn't think I'd actually die- I wanted to almost die, to get attention!" She spat, as Trucy stopped crying. It was silent for a moment, before Em sighed and continued. "He likes you more, ya know. He left me for you," She said bitterly.

"Who?" Trucy asked meekly. "Truman?" I could almost see Emily face palm.

"Wow you're dumb," She stated, surprised. "Who the hell else?" I couldn't help but harbor angry feelings for this girl- Trucy has been broken up over her death, very possibly mentally scarred, and the bitch is yelling at her and insulting her. And they were friends? What the hell?

"You're mad." Trucy stated, her tone still a but sad. "You didn't want to die. But you did. And now you're taking it out on me," She sighed. "I'm really gonna miss you, though. When you weren't upset, you were nicer... You were never happy, though." Trucy paused, and the bathroom was silent as a graveyard for a moment. "Never. However, you dying made me realize something important. Even though bad things happen, I can still smile. I can still be happy. I'm strong enough to get through it. I'm sorry, Emily. I'm really sorry. And I know Truman is, too. I don't like like him, and that will make him sad. But he'll recover, too." Trucy let out a single sob. "You died. You aren't going to come back after this. I hope the afterworld is good, and I hope that when you're there, you can find the strength to smile again." Trucy finished her speech, and I heard someone walking. The door opened, and I fell in, because I was pressing my ear to the door as hard as I could.

"Oof!" I picked myself up to see Trucy look strangely at me and Emily glare at me. Uh... I think we gotta go back..." I said, pointing to the courtroom. Emily muttered several insults about me strung together under her breath and pushed past me, as Trucy looked up into my face.

"Polly?" She asked, as we walked side-by-side to our seats in the gallery. "You heard everything, didn't you?" She asked, sighing. I looked her in the eye.

"Yeah. You were right, you know," I smiled at her as she looked back with confusion. "You are strong to get through it." She smiled back at me, and punched me in the arm.

"The girl's room is for girls!" She joked, as the Judge started the trial again.

--

"Did you kill yourself?" Mr. Wright asked Emily for the third time. She glared at him, and remained silent. At the prosecutrion, Klavier was seething. He wasn't... Thrilled... About the spirit channeling. He argued that it could be fake, that even if it really was Emily, she wouldn't know who killed her, unless it truely was suicide. Noone really paid attention to his side, reminding him of the several times before spirit channeling had been proven effective in this very courthouse. I found it strange, seeing Klavier had no problem with my percieving, but dismissed it. "Emily, please answer."

"No..." She sighed, before looking at her father. "I didn't mean to. It was an accident," She confessed as her eyes teared up. "I didn't want to die, I just wanted attention...!" She started to cry. "I jacked dad's sleeping pills, I downed the bottle after putting in some diet pills 'cause I'm fat, I didn't think it would kill me! I thought I'd just get sick and go to the hospital, I thought I'd get attention...! I just wanted dad to notice me...!" Emily concluded as she sobbed. Klavier fumed as the Judge looked on, and cleared his throat.

"So... This whole thing..." He asked, looking between everyone's faces, trying to find the right words.

"Was a tragic accident." Mr. Wright concluded. "It could have easily been avoided if either of you talked to each other about how you felt." At this point both Tee's broke down crying.

"N-No, it can't be true..." Mr. Tee spat, glaring at the ground. "Y-You fixed this, Wright... Y-You're faking this..." He looked heartbrokenly from Emily to Mr. Wright, from confusion to hatered. "She would never... Em would never..." He trailed off, sobbing quietly for his daughter. The Judge banged his gavel, and we all waited as the jury voted.

"The jury finds Gil Tee, NOT GUILTY!" He ruled. "Court is ajourned!" And like that, Emily was gone, leaving Maya standing alone at the witness stand, tears still in her eyes left behind from Emily. She tore off the glasses, and glanced from Klavier to Mr. Wright, back to Klavier. The blond man was... Laughing?

"You win again, Herr Wright," He stated grudgingly. "And you won again, too, Mystik Fraluin." He looked up at her as she glared at him. Mr. Wright stared in confusion. "Last time you did not resort to this," He waved his hand merily and walked out. "Ah, well, There is always next time!" He called out over his shoulder. Trucy, Mr. Wright, Larry and I made our ways down to where Maya stood.

"Last time? Again?" Mr. Wright asked sadly. He was hurt that she kept something from him. "Maya, what did he mean?" His voice pleaded. Maya wiped away the last of Emily's tears.

"I promise, I'll tell you later." She swore, sadness in her eyes, as my bracelet went off, and I remembered my last trial, how when she rattled off her dead family members, one stood out. One made her nervous.

"No, you won't." He insisted. "You'll tell me now." Maya looked from Larry to Trucy, to me.

"I... Can't tell you the details, now, Nick, but I'll tell you one thing," She sighed, fidgeting with her necklace. She dragged him away from the three of us, out the door. What was that person's name, the one who made her nervous? I glanced at Trucy and Larry.

"Stay here," I commanded, as I quietly raced up behind the spirit channeler and lawyer. They stood, utterly confused, but did not follow, as I shoved my ear up against the door again.

"Nick, a few years ago, there was an 'accident' in prison a few years ago," Maya said, as Mr. Wright remained silent. "One inmate was accused of murdering another inmate. The accused inmate was framed by a third inmate." She paused, and sighed. "I sort of helped the defense for that case, provided as a 'stand in unofficial lawyer,' sort of. The accused inmate decided to defend himself, but I helped. It ended with the real murderer killing herself just after admitting to the murder."

"Maya..." Mr. Wright started, as I desperately tried to remember what she said during my last trial- Accident in prison, dead person... But what was her name? A flower came to mind. "Why wouldn't you tell me?" He asked, somewhat hurt.

"Deigo Armando was the accused," Maya stated. "Aunt Morgan was the murderer. And Iris... Was the _victim_."

--

_Author's Note_: I know, I go from snail-paced plot speed to dragracing every couple of chapters. I don't like how I made Emily- Whiney attention hogging bitch. But I'm finally done with this part of the plot, opening up a hellovalot more. I know, I know, this way to dramatic and suspenseful and stuff. Hell, the next major plot twist I'm planning, in my opinion, blows this one out of the water. Oh, don't forget Gil Tee or Truman, they aren't going away that easily... Well, Tee isn't... And Iris fans, go ahead and yell at me if you please. Everyone- Feel free to say whatever you think about this so far!


	21. Pt 3: Phoenix vs Apollo

_Author's Note_: Drama. Secrets reveals, while more secrets and mysteries appear. An epic fight- Yeah. I'm building this chapter up to only have your expectations be unfulfilled. I love the 'fight' though. I can see Polly and Nick really doing that.

Don't own Phoenix Wright.

--

There was silence on the other side of the door, then the faint sound of Mr. Wright slumping down against the door.

"She's... Dead?" He asked, his voice cracking. I heard a small sniff before he continued. "Why, Maya? Why didn't you tell me...?" His voice was hollow. I could almost see his tortured face.

"Nick, do you remember the last time you saw Iris?" Maya asked, followed by the sound of her slumping down, too. "You brought Trucy to see her for the first time." Mr. Wright sobbed quietly.

"She didn't give me the time to explain Trucy was adopted- She thought I cheated on her..." He trailed off. I heard another sob- This was different from his. I think Maya was crying now, too. "She told me she never wanted to see me again... She never did. I went back to see her plenty of times, but she was never there."

"That night, the last time you saw her..." Maya paused, then sighed.

"Morgan." Mr. Wright stated. "How could she...?" He sobbed. "How could that... _Monster_... _Kill_ her own daughter?" He cried a little louder now.

"Nick..." Maya sobbed. "Right before Morgan killed herself, she said why. She claimed it was for Pearly..." Maya hesitates, mentally omitting something. "Then she coughed up blood and collapsed. Poison. Same type_ she _used," Maya hissed out 'she.' "She said everything was for Pearly. Aunt Morgan killed one daughter for another," Maya cried. Mr. Wright was quiet for a moment.

"Does Pearls know?" He asked solemnly.

"I don't think so," Maya cried. "She left for Europe to become a lawyer right after your... Incident..." Maya paused. I could imagine her wiping her eyes and clinging onto Mr. Wright, both sitting on the floor. "I haven't been able to contact her in months... I never told her, either."

"Maya..." Mr. Wright began, his voice soft but quizzical. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"She was hung, Nick," Maya's voice cracked. "It looked like suicide, but then the police remembered she didn't have anything to hang herself with. Diego did. Belt. He was to the right of her, cell wise. You were a suspect for a short time..." Maya sobbed.

"That is _more_ of a reason to have told me..." He scolded, yet his voice was still soft and... Comforting?

"I didn't want you to go through her death... I wanted to protect you...!" Maya exclaimed. "I was- and still am- trying to pass the bar exam, Nick! But I'm so pathetic, it's been almost eight years since I've started, and I'm still not a lawyer! You and Sis and Mr. Edgeworth and Ms. von Karma and Diego have always been saving me and protecting, I-I wanted to save you and Diego! I couldn't even do that right!" Maya sobbed loudly. "Pearly passed the bar exam when she was fourteen! Aunt Morgan was right! I do suck at everything Pearly's great at!" She cried for a moment, before Mr. Wright started to laugh. "Nick?"

"Hehe- You actually believe your psychopath aunt?" He asked, and Maya growled. "I-I mean, you're not pathetic, Maya!" He quickly changed his approach. I just _know_ she must have scared him into it. "Without you, so many innocent people would be in jail! You help me a lot more then you think you do. And you're only failing it constantly because you keep channeling Mia- They know you're cheating. If you just took it yourself, you would pass." They were silent for a moment.

"Really?" Maya asked, her voice somewhat cheerier. "You think I'd pass?"

"With flying colors, Maya."

--

We were once again having a celebratory lunch at _A la Shoe,_ the Gumshoe family's restaurant. Everyone was there- well, everyone who wasn't related to the case other than Trucy. Said girl sat between Lamiroir and myself, with Vera sat across from me. She was squeezed between Ms. von Karma and Mr. Edgeworth. Larry sat next to Ms. von Karma, who hit him over the head with the menu every few minutes. Maya sat on the other side of me in the crowded booth. Mr. and Mrs. Gumshoe would walk by occasionally and say something, and Lucky was at school- Trucy's school had been off for this whole ordeal. Finally, at the head of the table in a pull-up chair was Mr. Wright. We were all talking to each other, at least four different conversations being held. Finally, Mr. Wright cleared his voice and raised his glass of grape juice.

"I would like to make a toast," He declared. The table was surprisingly deadly quiet as the hobo-ish attorney spoke. "To all of you. You have all helped me at some point in my life, and I would like to thank you all," He talked. I tried to listen to the speech, but I noticed that strange girl from yesterday standing in the doorway of the restaurant. Was it really only yesterday? It felt like forever ago. Anyway, it was the brunette girl who said the benches were bad luck and acted weird when I said Mr. Wright's name and dressed like Maya...

Mr. Edgeworth noticed me looking at the door, and glanced behind him. Even though I couldn't see his face, I could tell he was surprised. The girl gave a small wave, wiped her eyes, and walked out as Mr. Wright finally finished his speech. We all clanked cups when Mr. Edgeworth spoke.

"Wright..." The cravat-wearing man started. Mr. Wright raised his eyebrows.

"Yes?" He asked. Mr. Edgeworth mentally debated something in his head before he glanced at Maya and sighed.

"I'll tell you later," He glared. Mr. Wright was intrigued, but said nothing as he drained his glass of grape juice.

--

When we got back to the apartment, it was around five. I groaned and plopped down on my couch bed and realized just how thin my wallet was. I was forced to pay.

Larry split before the check arrived, even though he works at the restaurant. Lamiroir got a call from her new (living) agent about a singing gig and had to leave before she could finish her lunch. Mr. Edgeworth and Ms. von Karma got called back to the prosecutor's office over some serial killer case, and Vera had to deliver a new child's book illustrations to a publisher. That left two people to pay the bill, because Maya claimed she didn't have money on her, and Mr. Wright refused to let Trucy pay.

"You just got paid for once," I challenged as he pushed the bill towards me. I pushed it back.

"But I have a child to support," He pushed it towards me.

"She brings in more money than you," I commented and again shoved the bill towards him.

"Exactly, I need to save up to support her." Dammit. I walked into that one.

"I can't even afford my own apartment."

"I'm still paying student loans, and I graduated about ten years ago."

"I dug through your trash week looking for a quarter I dropped in there."

"I can't afford more than one suit. I've had it longer than I've known you."

"I'm homeless."

"No, you live on my couch. If you don't pay, you'll _be_ homeless." He smirked as I cursed loudly and pulled out my wallet. I had just barely enough to pay without much of a tip. I threw the money onto the table- Who makes one person pay for nine? It's sick and unjust.

I was pulled into the present when there was a knock on the door. I got off the couch and walked over to it and opened up the door to reveal Mr. Edgeworth. He leaned one arm against the doorframe and peered into the cluttered apartment.

"Justice... I need a word with Wright." he said, and allowed himself in.

--

_Author's Note_: Tada! I really love the 'fight' a lot. And I told you the brunette girl wasn't gone. And we needed more Edgeworth, so you will get your dose of him soon. And I promise, Apollo is going to go see Diego soon! And more on the Iris incident will come up eventually.


	22. Porn and GrapejuiceFlavored Coffee

_Author's Note_: I had to write three different essays earlier this week. One was four and a half pages. That was on the weekend. That's why it took so long to update! Sorry! But Now I've got a long weekend! Happy Memorial Day!

Let's see, there's a lot of crack and a bit/a lot of OOC in this chapter. Well, for Apollo and Vera. Yeah, more ApolloxVera fluff! But it sorta contributes o the plot! There's also some Phoenix/Maya and a bit of Phoenix/Iris, I guess. Also, I promise that by the next chapter, you will get to see Diego.

Don't own Ace Attorney Series. Sorry.

--

I stood, shocked. "Sure..." I said as Mr. Edgeworth brushed past me into the apartment. He grimaced as he looked around, especially at the couch, A.K.A my 'bed.' "Mr. Wright!" I called, expecting my boss to appear out of nowhere. He didn't disappoint as he stumbled out of his small room. I noticed his eyes were a little red and puffy- From crying, maybe? He chuckled as he looked at Mr. Edgeworth.

"Hey, Edgeworth! You impoverished and need a place to stay, too?" He asked, gesturing to the apartment. I was reminded of my pitiful amount of money as I looked at the couch. Maya, well, sort of lived in a spare room in the agency and ate all our food, spending almost all of her time here. And I think I've woken to Larry passed out on the floor smelling of booze once or twice. I couldn't help but feel astonished- It was only two weeks after Ms. Gumshoe's trial, but it felt like months!

"Wright, not only could I buy this entire building, but I could demolish it, rebuild it as a five-star hotel, and still have enough money to live in it," Mr. Edgeworth rolled his eyes. I could see the slight resentment in Mr. Wright's eyes as he smiled ruefully at Mr. Edgeworth- I'm pretty sure he was hiding his resentment better than I was hiding mine. Damn rich people. "Anyway, Wright, I need to talk to you about something important." He said, then looked directly at me, dropping anvil sized hints to leave. I could take a hint- He wanted me to leave- But I wasn't going to. "Alone." Mr. Wright rolled his eyes.

"Run along, Apollo, and let the lawyers talk."

"I am a lawyer."

"I mean the good lawyers." _Ouch_. I glared at him before he laughed. "Uh, that came out wrong." Mr. Edgeworth put his hand over his face and shook his head in disbelief.

"_Idiot_." He mumbled at Mr. Wright, before whipping out his wallet, and handing me two twenties. "That's for mine and Franziska's lunches. Go." He commanded, not bothering to learn their individual lunches barely cost fifteen dollars each. Not that I'm complaining about being given money. I took the cash and exited the apartment, before, for the millionth, kneeling on the floor and shoving my ear up against the door.

_**BLAM!**_

"Ouch!" I exclaimed and fell back as I realized one of them must have hit the door really hard to keep me from eavesdropping. "That wasn't nice!" I scolded through the door. I heard the two elder lawyers snicker.

"Neither is eavesdropping, Apollo!" Mr. Wright exclaimed. I sighed and picked myself up. I mumbled some curse words at them, before turning around to see Vera staring at me strangely.

"...Do you usually... Call doors... Dirty, ass-licking, fu-"

"No!" I cut her off defensively, waving my hands back and forth. "Never! I was just complaining about Mr. Wright and Mr. Edgeworth not letting me eavesdrop! I swear!" She continued to look at me strangely. _'Gah! You idiot! You complete and utter idiot, Apollo!'_

"...O...K..." She started, before smiling a little. "...Uhm, do... You want to... Go somewhere... With me...?" She asked. I perked right up and felt myself smiling.

"Sure! Where?" I asked. Vera shrugged. Then took out her drawing pad. She started furiously scribbling something, before turning to face me. She had a picture of a swing set and some trees.

"...The park... It has many... Interesting people... And situations... To draw..." She bit her lip. I smiled, and walked toward her.

"Okay, let's go!" I exclaimed happily. Quietly, Vera giggled. I think. I may have imagined it.

--

"Mommy, I lost Teddy!" A little child whined. Vera and I sat under a tree. It was still light out, even though it was about five thirty, I think. The weather was also warm; summer was close, but not quite there.

The two of us sat in silence. Vera sketched in her book and I pondered all the recent events that happened. Trucy's friend's death seemed to slowly fade away after the rest of today's events. Maya helped out a friend a few years ago, when Mr. Wright was in his 'law break,' she was trying to protect Mr. Wright and another friend- Diego Armando. Mr. Wright's old girlfriend was murdered by her mother, after accusing Mr. Wright of cheating on her and running out before he could defend himself. That didn't add up. I read the old case reports that involved Iris and her evil twin, and Iris wouldn't just blatantly accuse him of something. And the timing wouldn't be right- Trucy would have been born long before they even met. Something was missing. Something was _wrong_.

I glanced at Vera as the sun shone on her. She was smiling slightly. I felt my mind go blank. _'How did she do that?'_

"So..." I started off. She seemed startled for a moment, lost in her own little pencil and paper world. "What'cha drawing?"

"...Stuff..." She said, shifting her book away from me. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at me.

"Can I see?" I asked, putting on a fake air of innocence.

"...No..." She said, flatly. I scrunched up my nose, before trying to grab the book away playfully. She tried to keep it away from me. This kept going for a good few minutes, before I finally captured the book. "...Give it back...!" She exclaimed as I jumped up and opened to the most recent page. I felt my face contort into horror as she grabbed the book back. "...I said... You couldn't... Look at it...!" She cried, before she chuckled at the look on my face.

"Vera... How did this _very detailed porn_ get into your book?"

--

I walked back to the apartment alone. Vera laughed at me for my horror for a while, but then it seemed to get late. I sighed before walking into the apartment without knocking. Mr. Edgeworth was still there, both him and Mr. Wright sitting at the table. Maya joined them, pouring coffee from an instant coffee maker into a mug Mr. Wright was holding. I avoided making a noise when I realized they were talking.

"So she's back from Europe, now?" Maya asked, interest showing in her voice. Mr. Edgeworth nodded. "And she's been living in your Germany home for the last few years?"

"Free of rent. I haven't been there much lately, so she's been taking care of it in exchange for free board," Mr. Edgeworth said, before drinking from his mug and grimacing. "Your tea sucks, Wright." Mr. Wright took a sip of coffee from his mug before Maya took the mug out of his hands, took a sip, and almost spat it out.

"Gross, Nick! Is this _grapejuice-flavoured coffee_?!" She exclaimed as she wiped her mouth on her sleeve. Mr. Wright shrugged.

"Yes. I still can't believe Pearls came back."

--

_Author's Note_: Dun Dun Dun! Okay, yeah, it's been a little predictable since a few chapters I think. But this is only the tip of the iceberg. I had the end part with Maya and the coffee in my head for so long, by the way. And I think Vera draws porn. Yeah, those two can't have a single 'date' without something going terribly wrong. I'm sorry if this chapter is short. Please Review!


	23. You're wearing red, aren't you, asshole?

_Author's note_: Tada! Longer, more coffee-er, more plot, and Diego Armando!

Also, a very special thanks to SyberiaWinx! Her review a few chapters ago helped me fix a few plotholes. I meant to thank her last chapter, but I forgot.

I don't own anything except the guard. And I doubt you'll ever see him again.

--

I didn't make a sound as Mr. Wright took the coffee mug back from Maya. It was slightly sad that no one noticed me, but hey- this was way better eavesdropping than listening through a door!

"So where is she now?" Maya asked, sitting down. "I haven't seen Pearly in years! I miss her so much!" She scrunched up her nose. "Has she changed much?"

"Pearl has spent almost eight years in Germany, and has been taking care of herself for the last four years. She can look Franziska in the eye and not cringe in fear," Mr. Edgeworth rolled his eyes. "She's changed." Maya frowned.

"What if she doesn't... Like us now...?" She asked nervously. From all the stories I've heard, Pearl was like a little sister to Maya. It must hurt to think someone you see as a sibling may not like you. Mr. Wright looked to Mr. Edgeworth expectantly. The pink prosecutor smirked.

"Every time I've seen her, she'd ask about the two of you, even if I haven't seen you. Franziska said she's spent hours daydreaming about when she would return home and fight crime with you both. And plan your wedding." He laughed. Mr. Wright's face turned slightly red, but Maya didn't seem phased. "Pearl misses you."

"But... What if she doesn't like me now?" Maya asked, sighing. "I'm more of a looser now than I was back then..."

"You aren't a _looser_!" Mr. Wright defended Maya from herself. "Stop saying that!"

"But it's true!"

"No it isn't! Your the accomplished head of Kurain, you've escaped death almost as much as me, you're taking the bar exam in a few months, and you will pass this time!" He exclaimed. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"How do you know I'll pass?"

"Because you aren't going to try to cheat this time."

The door next to me opened, and Trucy emerged, yawning. She muttered 'hello' to me and walked into the table, and sat on Mr. Wright's lap. She took the coffee mug out of his hands and took a swig. She grimaced and put the mug down.

"_Gross_, Daddy, grapejuice-flavoured coffee?" She faked gagging. Mr. Wright smiled at his daughter. "Did something bad ever happen to your taste buds?"

"I don't like people drinking my coffee," He looked between Maya and Trucy. Maya rolled her eyes and Trucy shrugged.

"It looked sorta like hot chocolate... But still tastes nasty." She scrunched up her nose, before smiling happily. "Hi, Uncle Edgey!" Mr. Edgeworth smirked slightly. I don't think he can actually smile.

"Hello, Trucy," He raised his tea to her. "You know, I do think something bad happened to your father's taste buds when we were in fourth grade..." He started, a malicious glint in his eye.

"Edgeworth, don't...." Mr. Wright warned. The other man ignored him, and leaned towards Trucy like a gossiping school girl. Maya leaned in too, also wanting to hear.

"Him and Uncle Larry were fighting over a girl in our class," Mr. Edgeworth recalled. "I think she was a redhead. Anyway, they came up with a way to decide who would get to give the poor girl a box of chocolates..."

"I swear, Edgeworth..."

"It was a contest. Whoever could-"

"You swore you wouldn't tell! We had a pact!" Mr. Wright exclaimed, cutting his friend off halfway through his sentence.

"We also had a pact to invent a pill that grows gills, Wright. Didn't work. Anyway, the contest was licking toads. For two weeks, both of their tongues were swollen out of their mouths," He smirked at Mr. Wright, who was now glaring at him. Maya and Trucy were in fits of giggles. "Most peaceful two weeks of my life." Mr. Wright struggled to think of something to say, before finally settling on something classic.

"Bastard."

--

I was sleeping peacefully, before someone kicked me off my couch. Literally kicked me. I landed with a thud, waking up immediately to see Mr. Wright's foot where my back was moments before.

"Wake up, Apollo." He commanded as I cursed colorfully at him. I got to my feet and tried to glare at him straight in the eye. Unfortunately, I'm about a head shorter than him without my hair, and having to physically look up to someone makes you a lot less intimidating. He didn't seem affected by me cursing at him, but stayed silent as I calmed myself down. His eyes dropped regretfully as I finally shut my mouth. "...Sorry. Only way to wake you up..." He apologized.

"Why?" I asked, crossing my arms on my chest. He shrugged his shoulders.

"Got some errands for you." He mumbled, looking away and stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Important errands." I sighed melodramatically.

"And you couldn't do them yourself because...?" I asked, picking my blanket off the floor. Mr. Wright seemed conflicted, but told me.

"You were listening yesterday." He mumbled. "About Iris. About Diego Armando's trail a few years ago." I flinched. Damn. Why does he know everything? I'm not even going to ask how he knew. "I need to know exactly what happened. Iris was... Close to me. I need to know the details. And I don't think Maya is willing to tell me all of it. Not yet..." He trailed off. "She has a few locks in her heart."

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Nothing. Anyway, you need to visit Diego Armando in prison for me. Find out all you can about the trial, report it back to me." He looked me in the eye. Behind his commands, Mr. Wright was pleading with me. I noticed his eyes were a little bit puffy.

"You've been crying over her," I stated. He turned his head away in surprise. "It's okay, Mr. Wright. Your best friend kept your girlfriend's murder from you to protect you. You should cry."

"I haven't been crying." He lied. "I got grape juice in my eye. Hurt a lot."

"You're lying to a human lie detector, Mr. Wright." I reminded him. He gave me a slip of paper, and pointed to the door.

"Go." He commanded in a hollow voice. I obediently left the apartment before returning to put on some clothes other than my pajamas.

--

I stood outside a large, bleak building made of brown bricks.

Jail.

Somehow, I never imagined it to be so... Big. Or brown. I sharply inhaled, before entering the building. The visitor area was surprisingly nice. But there were still bars on the windows, reminding all inside that they were trapped. I hurried over to a security guard.

"Uh, hi. I'm Apollo Justice... My boss sent me to talk to Diego Armando..." I told him. He glanced at me.

"That defense attorney kid?" He asked. I nodded. "Kid, that trial's been over for _years_. Why are you here?" He asked. I shrugged.

"My boss needed to hear some details about it from him. He couldn't get out of the office today, so he sent me." I lied, sort of. It wasn't our imaginary office keeping him, it was Maya. I don't think they've spent more than twelve minutes apart since Ms. Gumshoe's trial. The guard nodded, then turned and wagged his finger, indicating for me to follow him.

"Armando was only supposed to be here for a few years, but he met up with the guy who killed his girlfriend, so he keeps doing anything to get his sentence extended. Gives the guy pure hell. Don't blame him," The guard paused. "Redd White is one of the most annoying prisoners in Cell Block W, and that Fey woman was gorgeous."

"Cell Block W?" I asked curiously.

"It started off as a coincidence. The first guy Wright put away- Sawhit, I think- was the first guy in our new cell block, block W. After that, the person who decided where prisoners go always put the criminals Wright locked up in Cell Block W- W for Wright. They were a fan. Still are, I guess, now old Objecty is back in the game."

"Old Objecty?" I echoed, warily.

"Someone nicknamed Wright that after seeing a trial." The guard chuckled, before stopping in front of a door. It had 'Cell Block W' written on it in red letters. "A couple of the prisoners here have special treatment. Armando, von Karma, Gant... They all had a few strings they pulled." He unlocked the door. I walked past the cells, looking inside them to see the prisoners through the thick metal bars. I recognized most from case reports and videos of trials I've watched. I couldn't help but feel bad for the kind looking man in a wheelchair as I passed his cell, but we kept walking. I heard some of them talk to each other.

"_Ay_, Manny, wanna go swimming?" A man called out.

"There's no pool here, dumbass." Another man replied. He sounded foreign, and had a very deep, scary voice.

"_Zvarri_! The showers!"

"No." The foreign man said, leaving no room for compromise.

"Does anyone remember what the sun looks like?" A woman asked in a whiney voice, obviously bored. "I think I forgot what the sun looks like."

"It's yellow." An equally bored man replied. His voice sounded familiar. I think he was on one of Mr. Wright's vast amount of child shows- One of the Samurai guys. "And bright." The guard stopped in front of a cell and panged an iron bar.

"Armando, you got a visitor," The guard said, unlocking the barred door for me. I quietly panicked. Diego Armando _killed_ someone! He may have done it to save Maya, and it may have been over eight years ago, but he still took a life! I swallowed up my fear, and stepped into the cell.

The first thing I noticed was the walls were painted white. It was unusually clean for a prison cell- They usually made them dirty and disgusting on television. Next I noticed a large stack of books next to the bed. After the books, I noticed the coffee maker on a table- How did he have that? It's better than Mr. Wright's! It even has its own _freakin'_ beans! Finally, I noticed the man sitting on the bed. He was large, but not fat- Muscular? He had an orange prison jumpsuit, tan skin, and wild white hair, and had a coffee cup in his hand. Oh, did I mention the visor? It was sort of creepy, with three red light bars. He looked at me- I think he looked at me- he turned his head towards me. Diego Armando frowned, then spoke in a deep Latin voice.

"You're wearing red, aren't you, you asshole?"

--

_Author's Note_: Some of the Guards at the jail are sadistic, and decided to paint Diego's walls white. I have no clue how cell blocks work in jails, so I winged it. Let's see, there was also Manfred von Karma, Damon Gant, that annoying Zvarri guy from Trials and Tribulations, the bipolar Miney girl (Are there any other girls from the Phoenix Wright Arc still in prison who I didn't kill? That Mob woman from the first one would have gotten out already because it was self-defense. I killed Morgan and Iris. That pink girl who helped Redd White- April May, right?- probably would have gotten out, but it could be her, too...), and Matt something. I see Diego screwing with Redd White as much as he can. That part's been planned for a long time. Hope I did well this chapter.


	24. This is not a game of chess

_Author's Note:_ Okay, I have recently fallen in love with a new anime/manga, _Hetalia_. It's just too damn funny. It induced writer's block for this and my NCIS fic. So sorry that this chapter is short, and probably inadequate.

Own nothing.

--

I was taken aback by Mr. Armando's question and cursing.

"Y-Yes..." I stuttered. He smirked and shrugged as I remembered he couldn't see red on white. "I- uh, I forgot your..." I hesitated, trying to think of the right word. Handicap? Condition? Color blindness?

"It's alright, kid," He stretched back on his bed nonchalantly. "Guards decided to paint my room white to screw with me," He stated, before looking at me again. "Right now to me, you're just a disembodied head with a blue tie, brown shoes, and two arms. With a bracelet," He stated, frowning. "The occasional strange sight is the price for me to pay to be able to see at all," He sighed. "Man I hate that bitch Dahlia..." Mr. Armando spat with resentment. I shifted uncomfortably.

"Uh... Mr. Armando..." I started. He turned his head towards me. "A few years ago... You were accused of murdering Iris... Her last name was Fey, right?" I asked him unsure. He chuckled bitterly.

"She had no last name," He said. "Poor girl."

"Yeah..." I bit my lip nervously. "Well, I work for Mr. Wright," I mumbled. He sat up and snapped into attention- I think. You know, it's sort of hard to see his face...

"_Wright_?" He asked, surprise evident in his voice. I nodded my head yes. He seemed stunned. "I didn't know he got back into law... No one's come to see me in a while..." He sighed.

"He was accused of murder again about two years ago... The guy who framed him for forgery was the guy who framed him for murder..." I shifted nervously. "I was his lawyer... We found out who really killed the other guy, and eventually found out he set up Mr. Wright for forgery...." I left out a large amount of details as I recounted what happened. "He just got his attorney's badge back recently."

"It took him _that long_ to figure it all out?" Mr. Armando demanded. "What the hell? He was brilliant back when he sent me away!" I stepped back a bit. He was _praising_ the man who got him convicted for murder?! He took a breath for composer. "Back to why Wright sent you here," He frowned. "Why?"

"He just found out about it." I said. Again, he seemed surprised. "Maya kept it from him for years. Klavier said 'she won again' and 'she didn't resort to this-' spirit channeling- last time. Mr. Wright got her to tell him about the trial, but he think's she's hiding something." I recapped. "He sent me to find out what happened from you."

"Why doesn't he just ask her?" He asked. I shrugged.

"It took her years to even tell him, and he said something about her heart being _locked_ _up_." I frowned. "I have no clue what the hell that means, though. He's hurt over this, though."

"Really?" Mr. Armando asked.

"Well, she was his _girlfriend_," I stated. "And his best friend kept her death from him. I'm pretty sure he was crying this morning." Mr. Armando sighed.

"Ah, the dead girlfriend pain..." He attempted to mask his hurt by joking. "It sucks more than you can imagine kid, especially when you can't do anything about it." He frowned. "Sucks even more when you find out years later... At least he isn't taking it out on an innocent person..." He sighed, before smirking. "That reminds me; _WHITE_!" He yelled. A whine came from another cell. "_CAN'T WAIT TILL LUNCH, GOT SOMETHING SPECIAL PLANNED FOR YOU_!" The whine became a loud sob.

"Uh..." I frowned. The guard said he liked torturing that Redd White guy...

"He's the bastard who killed my Kitten," Mr. Armando said, thinking I needed clarification. "Before I came here, I tried to take Kitten's death out on Wright."

"I thought he killed your _girlfriend_, not your _cat_," I said without thinking. He just shook his head at me.

"I see Wright's air-headed comment making has rubbed off on you."

--

"Morgan Fey then looked directly at Maya," Mr. Armando said, coming near the end of the tale of what happened at Iris's trial. I sat on the floor, scribbling down notes furiously in a notebook I brought. "And she _laughed_. 'This is the beginning, you little rat,' the monster said. 'This is the beginning of your downfall! I admit, I killed my daughter Iris- But it was for Pearl! Iris was only a pawn, and for the rightful queen to win the game of chess, some of her own pawns must be sacrificed for her own benefit, even if she does not know!'" Mr. Armando paused. He seemed to have the entire speech Morgan Fey gave memorized- Either willingly committed, or forever scarred into his brain. "Again, she laughed. 'The plot of your death has been set into motion! You will not know _when_ or _how_, but you know it will happen! My daughter, the rightful Head of Kurain, will win!' She started to cough up blood as she gave Maya one last glare. 'You _failure_... All _alone_... Who... Will... Protect... You... _This_... Time?' She asked, before collapsing. Dead before she hit the floor." Mr. Armando chugged his cup of coffee before getting up to get another mug. I looked up at him.

"That's horrible!" I exclaimed. He nodded his head gravely.

"Morgan Fey used the same type of poison that Dahlia Hawthorn used to kill Kitten's first client, the victim in Kitten's second client, tried to kill Wright with, and robbed me of my sight and five years of my life. Poor Maya was pale as a sheet after the trial. She said she would just give her cousin her title, but I convinced her not to..." He seemed to be long in the past. "If she did that, the _monster_ would win."

"You were acquitted then, right?" I asked. He shook his head.

"First, that pretty boy, air-guitaring prosecutor had a bit of a fit. He went off on some tangent about how Maya was crooked because of Wright, and something didn't make sense." He shrugged.

"I can't imagine Klavier doing that..." I muttered. "Sure, he's said a thing or two about Mr. Wright, but never a tangent. He didn't even seem upset with me for getting his brother and best friend found guilty of murder. He just wanted for justice to be served."

"Pretty boy grew up between my trial and yours," He shrugged. I frowned a bit, looking over my notes.

Something was still wrong.

--

_Author's Note:_ Who hates me? Anyone? I promise, there will be more Diego and more on the Iris case, and I'm even planning on writing the entire case for either a court video or a flashback. Oh, I'm gonna get more people hating me for saying this, but I do not like Klavier. I'd have either no or less of a problem with him, but I constantly have to listen to one of my best friends fangirl over him and drone _on_ and _on_ _**and on**_ about how awesome he is, how much she loves him, how handsome he is, how she plans to marry him, their kids names, going against him in court and winning because she will be the best defense attorney ever, and how she will torture him if she finds out he is cheating on him. I am serious about this. It drives me nuts. And whenever I kindly remind her that he is not real, she and my other best friend, who is a fangirl of another fictional character, yell at me and say they are real. Apparently being able to distinguish fact from fiction is not a desirable trait to have.

Anyway, sorry for the rant. I love reviews, by the way!


	25. Franziska's DaddyAngst

_Author's Note_: I'm sorry it took a while! I'm sorry it's so short! I've been randomly addicted to random internet things lately, making me forget about Fanfic a little. I've also had a crap load of finals and regents, family stuff, friends, ect. I'm also moving in August, and the concept is pretty distracting.

Don't own anything.

--

"Mr. Armando..." I scrunched up my nose, re-reading my notes. "Something just doesn't add up. Iris sounded so timid and listening in every story I've ever heard- She wouldn't blatantly accuse her boyfriend of cheating and run out before she heard his side..." I frowned. "And Trucy was born years before Mr. Wright and Dahlia/Iris even met- Shouldn't she have noticed?" Mr. Armando shrugged and drank another mug of coffee.

"I know what you mean..." He trailed off. "I never got that, either. And when she came back to the cell, she didn't seem upset- _Hell_; I think she was _humming_..." He sighed. "This case isn't going to fade away, is it?" He asked me, as I put an asterisk in the notes and added the part about Iris humming.

"It hasn't been completely solved," I stated. "Can _you_ say you don't want to know the truth- the _complete_ truth?" He sighed again. I bet he was rolling his eyes. He looked like he would be rolling his eyes.

"No, I can't. It's bugged me, too..." He poured another mug of coffee for himself, before finding another mug and poured some into that mug, too. He extended it to me. "You want coffee, kid?" I made a face, thinking of Mr. Wright's coffee.

"It doesn't have grape juice in it, does it?" I asked warily. Mr. Armando chuckled and shook his head 'no.' "...Mr. Wright pretty much lives on the stuff. Maya and Trucy tried some yesterday and almost choked on it."

"That can't be healthy, drinking something like that _constantly_," He said before draining his mug then the one he poured for me. I glared at him as he wiped his mouth on his sleeve. He noticed.

"Uh..." I frowned at his hypocrisy. Mr. Armando frowned and poured some more coffee.

"What?"

--

As I left his cell, I looked over the notes again. Mr. Armando described it in great detail. Mr. Wright was right- Maya would make an excellent lawyer if she didn't freak out while taking the bar exam. I shoved it in my back pocket, and walked down the cell block. I stopped dead in my tracks as I passed one cell and saw something I never expected. Franziska von Karma was sitting in a fancy chair across from a grey haired old man with a very large cravat, also sitting in a fancy chair. He also had a fancy suit jacket on. They sat in silence, sipping drinks from small cups they each held. Franziska's eyes held disappointment and contempt for the man, as his eyes held for her. She slammed the cup on the small fancy coffee table between them and cleared her throat, and stood up.

"_Well_, father, I must go now." She declared, voice impatient. "This was fun- I wish I could visit more often." She obviously lied. Her father scowled.

"Please do." He replied, obviously not wanting her to visit more often. He had the foreign, deep, scary booming voice from earlier. "And tell your sister and '_brother'_ to visit more often, too." He sneered. She kept her face calm, but she was angry. Very angry.

"My sister and I have not talked in a long time, father. And I doubt the foolish Miles Edgeworth would like to see _you_..." They both growled slightly at each other. "I doubt _you_ would like to see him, actually, unless you wanted to kill him." The man laughed mirthlessly.

"I _always_ want to kill him. I blame him and Phoenix Wright for me being here." He glared. I saw her hand twitch for her whip, but she didn't attack him.

"Really, father?" She asked, seething. "You don't blame yourself at all for killing an innocent man, adopting his son, and then trying to frame his son for his father's murder?" She spat. "You're more of a fool than I thought!" He growled, before chuckling evilly.

"You are soft, Franziska. That man deserved his death-"

"For exposing you forged evidence?!" She exploded. "For putting a _small_ dent in your perfect record? You still won that case, and you still killed that man!" Franziska must have kept this pent up for a long time- Probably since she found out her father was a murderer. "I know it is _hard_ to believe, father- But there are more important things than a perfect record!"

"Such as...?" He mocked her. "_Friends_? They'll turn on you in an instant-"

"Not everyone has a secret agenda!" She yelled. I could see small tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "You always taught me to be perfect! To not let my emotions get in the way of my perfection! That people are fools and tools to be used for your own personal gain!" She glared at him- I've never seen such hate in her eyes. He simply sat there, chuckling evilly the whole way through. "_Fool_!"

"This is why you could never beat Phoenix Wright," He guffawed. "You are weak, Franziska. You could never-" Finally, that one sound I was waiting for rang through the air.

_**CRACK**_!

Franziska breathed heavily as she stood, arm still extended, from whipping at her father. He raised his hand to touch his face and wiped the very shallow gash in his cheek. He looked at the blood on his hand, then glared back at his daughter.

"_Well_," She started, stepping near the door, the guard in shock. He fumbled as he unlocked it and allowed her to leave before slamming it shut, afraid the prisoner may attack and go on a rampage. "It seems you _are_ human after all." She turned away from him and stormed out, not noticing me until I spoke.

"Ms.- Ms. von Karm- Franziska?" I asked. She whipped her head around, blinking away the tears that threatened to fall. "Are- Are you okay?" She growled, whipped me, and helped me off the ground after I fell.

"If you tell a single person about whatever you heard, you are a dead man, fool." She threatened. I gulped, and then nodded, barely keeping myself from asking what that was about. She glared at me. "Manfred von Karma is my father. I trust you have foolishly read Mr. Phoenix Wright's report on the incident?" I nodded, afraid she may whip me again. "Then you know what happened. You are never to speak of this again."

I nodded, and we left the prison and headed back to Mr. Wright's apartment building in silence.

--

_Author's Note_: Yeah, I felt like writing a bit of random angst. It was completely unplanned and written on a whim. I'm positive it's out of character a bit, but I wanted Franzy fighting with her daddy Manny. 'Cause I like her and hate him. (I would just like to point out I have a good relationship with my own father- Nothing stemmed from personal resentment.) I just realized it's almost Father's Day. Wow. Strange timing for this chapter. Again, sorry it's short!


	26. Soap de Justice

_Author's Note:_ I'm sorry this took soo soo long! I've been very distracted lately, and suffered from something horrible! Writer's block! Ug, this chapter sucks. It's funny, then depressing, then funny, then sweet, then suspenseful. I just can't write one general emotion for a whole damn chapter. Sorry! Sorry!

Also, I'd like to thank everyone who pointed out Manfred von Karma was dead before the second game. I forgot, sorry. If I screw something up, please call me on it!

Don't own anything.

--

I opened the door to the agency. Trucy was sitting on the couch, listening to some music while boredly doodling on the newspaper. Vera sat next to her, engrossed in her work in her sketchbook. I chuckled as I looked on the ground in front of the television. Maya, Mr. Wright, Mr. Edgeworth, and Larry all sat in a line with their legs crossed like small children, cheering on the Steel Samurai as they watched old episodes on the television, probably from Mr. Wright's tapes. I glanced at Franziska.

"I... I have lost all my foolish respect for both of you fools, Miles Edgeworth and Phoenix Wright," She said through clenched teeth, covering her face with her gloved hand. Mr. Edgeworth bolted upward, a mix of embarrassment and horror falling on his face.

"I- This isn't what it looks like!" He exclaimed, scrambling to look less ridiculous. "They made me watch it!" Mr. Edgeworth yelled, pointing at Maya and Mr. Wright. Maya found it hilarious, while Mr. Wright smirked maliciously.

"You started screaming like a little girl when you realized it was on," He tapped the surprised-face button on his hat, which was secretly a camera. "I have proof." Trucy looked up from the newspaper and took out the earphones.

"Uncle Edgey likes the Steel Samurai," She stated, straight faced. I tried to hide a snicker. "The four of them were acting like school children again." Silently, Mr. Edgeworth fumed, while Larry got off the floor and clapped him on the back.

"It's 'bout time ya acted like a kid anyways, Edgey, 'fterall, you were middle aged at twenty-twenty... How old were you when we re-met?" He slurred, putting his arm around Mr. Edgeworth, smiling brightly while the magenta-clad prosecutor's face darkened rapidly. He scrunched up his nose.

"Don't touch me," He demanded, pushing Larry off him, before storming out of the cramped room. Larry fell to the ground and made a pathetic sound in agony. Mr. Wright and Maya sighed in unison, helping him up. They dragged a clearly intoxicated Larry to the couch, Vera and Trucy willingly getting up.

"It's too early to tip the bottle, Larry," Mr. Wright sighed, looking at his friend with concerned eyes. Larry groaned, obviously over exaggerating.

"I'm in pain! Pain, Nick! The love of my life was killed and I never even knew!" He whined loudly, tears starting to fall. Franziska's hand twitched towards her whip, but restrained herself from whipping the man on the couch. Maya bit her lip, her face sympathetic. She must have neglected to tell him, too. Maya leaned down and hugged the drunk and now sobbing Larry. Mr. Wright, however, wasn't as kind towards his friend as Maya was.

"You'd have realized something happened if you actually visited Iris, you know," He said, both his tone and face bitter. I raised my eyebrows. Maya snapped back at Mr. Wright.

"You didn't realize either, Nick," She said, before sighing sadly, avoiding eye contact with everyone in the room. Maya was ashamed of herself.

"Yeah, but she told me to never come back after the last visit," He defended himself. His expression softened as he looked at his two friends at the couch. One was ashamed of herself, yet she comforting the other one, mourning over the death of a girl he liked. "Hey, I'm sorry," Mr. Wright said softly and sincerely, looking away. "I... I miss her, too," He frowned. I looked at the others still in the room. Franziska was a bit angry, Trucy was looking between her daddy, 'Mystic Maya,' and 'Uncle Larry,' sad, scared, and confused. Vera shifted uncomfortably. "Sorry, Larry," Mr. Wright finished. I made eye contact with Vera, then Trucy. I discreetly motioned to the door. We quietly exited the dramatic, sorrow-ridden room and filed into the hall way.

"Poor Iris," Trucy said as we aimlessly walked down the hallway. "Poor Uncle Larry, Mystic Maya, and Daddy. It's stressing them all out way too much," She pouted. "I don't like it when my family is stressed out. I like it when we're all happy."

"...It's like... A soap opera..." Vera commented. "...Drama... After... Drama..." I chuckled.

"It's gonna get a whole lot worse," I said, thinking of my notes from Diego Armando. "It really has been like a soap opera. Next it'll turn out me and Trucy are secretly half siblings or something!" I laughed. The two girls chuckled at my joke.

"Don't be ridiculous, Polly!" Trucy laughed. "Oh! I know! Not only will we be half siblings, but Lamiroir'll be our birth mommy!" We both howled in laughter at the absurdity. Vera quietly chuckled, but it looked forced. I thought back to when she said that the three of us, Trucy, Lamiroir and I, looked alike. We were only joking, right? The three of us continued talking about our 'Soap Opera,' nicknamed 'Soap de Justice,' as we walked down the stairs. We ended up going to Eldoon's Noodles for an early lunch. As we sat on the street's curb in front of the noodle stand, we kept adding more absurdities to our 'Soap de Justice,' involving Larry having split personalities and several bastard children, Franziska being royalty, and Klavier going into a coma, but came out without a single problem and caught the person who tried to kill him. None of it made any sense, but it was fun, and with all the drama lately, fun was needed.

"...And then it turns out Uncle Edgey had amnesia or something and was daddy's cousin!" Trucy exclaimed, making no sense what so ever. Vera chuckled, doodling in her sketchbook.

"...And Mr. Wright... Marries Mystic Maya... In the end..." Vera said, grinning at Trucy. _'Oh, crap, she got to Vera, too!'_ I thought. Trucy scooted over to Vera and hugged her. The older woman was visibly flustered, unused to physical contact.

"That's a perfect ending, Vera!" She yelled, before glancing at the sketchbook. "Can I see?" Trucy asked, and didn't wait for an answer as she quickly grabbed it away from Vera, looking at it.

"No!" I exclaimed in horror, thinking of when I saw Vera's sketchbook. Trucy was not old enough to see such graphic and mentally disturbing images. She looked anyway. I expected her to shriek or look away or something, but she looked pleasantly surprised.

"Wow, Vera!" She exclaimed. "This is great!" Vera blushed and looked away, obviously embarrassed.

"...It's nothing... Special..." She muttered. Trucy scoffed.

"Nothing special?" She repeated, shoving the sketchbook in my face. It was a very detailed drawing of all the people who worked at the Wright's Anything Agency and several people who didn't. From left to right in a line, I looked at Larry, Lamiroir, Vera, Mr. Edgeworth, Trucy, myself, Mr. Wright, Maya, Franziska, and the three Gumshoes. Everyone was giving a thumbs-up, smiling brightly. Off in the background was Charlie the plant. Over it all, in neat block-letters, read 'Wright's Anything Agency.' Below the picture was the silly motto 'We're Wright, so YOU'RE Wright!' "This is FANTASTIC, Vera!" Trucy continued. Vera snatched back her book, still avoiding looking us both in the eye.

"It really is good!" I confirmed, smiling.

"...Mr. Wright wanted... A new flyer... Because so many... New people... Are joining..." She said.

"It's beautiful! People will come flocking to us!" Trucy exclaimed. I nodded. Vera, however, wasn't convinced.

"...The proportions are off... The head are too big..." She rattled off imperfections.

"They are not!" I said, startling her. "This is great, Vera! Don't pick yourself apart!" I instructed, defending her from herself. She looked me in the eye.

"...Really...?" She asked, meekly, unsurely. I nodded vigorously.

"Really." I stated, grinning. She grinned back, and I forced down a blush. We finished our noodles, returned the bowls, and returned to the agency. Larry was passed out on the couch, Maya was in the kitchen, and Mr. Wright was looking out the window. His face was distant. The three of us quietly entered the apartment. He turned to see us, his eyes falling directly on me.

"Apollo," Mr. Wright started. "Come take a walk with me," He commanded. Trucy and Vera looked between us, confused, as I merely looked solemnly at him, following him out the door. We walked in silence. I didn't even realize where we were until we stepped onto the roof. I thought of Trucy sobbing over her friend here. Glancing at Mr. Wright, I couldn't help but wonder if he knew about that...? He looked over my head, off into the city. "What did Diego say?" He asked, his eyes twitching. Mr. Wright was in pain.

"I took notes of everything he said. And he said everything," I took out my notes, offering them to Mr. Wright. Slowly, he took them from me ad started looking at them. "There are two things, though, that you really need to know." He looked up from the notes, his eyes nervous and sad at the same time. It was a heart breaking expression.

"What?" He asked softly. I mentally prepared myself for what I had to say.

"The first thing is that it doesn't make any sense. I don't think you were talking to Iris the last day before her murder," I said, expecting him to take this information badly. Mr. Wright didn't seem phased, as if he expected it. However, he bit his lip.

"What's the second?" He asked, preparing himself for the worst.

"Iris's murder was the start of some diabolical plot," I reported. "A plot on Maya's life."

--

_Author's Note:_ Again, sorry it took so long. Yeah, I know Iris can't channel. She didn't. I also remember some joke that Edgeworth was secretly a big Steel Samurai fan, so I had to make fun of him there.


	27. I promise she'll be okay

Author's Note: Here it is! Uh, for the next couple chapters, it'll be written in third person. I would like to say real quickly my adult sister had a baby girl last weekend. She named it Morgan. I am not exactly pleased. (My exact mental response: Oh, shit, like the psychotic bitch from the game?) Also: I think I should start referring to the diferent plotlines as 'parts,' so Apollo's first trial defending Maggey is Part 1, Nick's trial where the bitchy girl accidentally killed herself is Part 2, and the stuff about Iris and Diego is Part 3. There'll be a Part 4 afterwards, then it's done.

And about time for a new description for this story...

First description: _Apollo picked himself off the pavement after Trucy pushed him off the bus. It was up to him, of course. Prove the client innocent while Mr. Wright was hospitalized. Nothing is ever simple, though. Especially when Mr. Wright's involved. T to be safe._

Second description:_ When Trucy's classmate dies, Mr. Wright takes the defendant's case because the man is blaming Trucy and Mr. Wright is hell-bent on finding the kid's true murderer, leaving Apollo time to wonder what he is being left in the dark about and why. T to be safe._

I do not own the Ace Attorney series, the game Bullshit, or anything else.

--

Mr. Wright's eyes widened a little in fear, but he tried to hide it. He straightened his back, and looked away. He knew.

"You guessed I was going to say that, didn't you?" I asked softly. He tried to ignore me for a moment, before sighing and looking me in the eye.

"I expected that... I didn't want to, though. Morgan would do anything to get Maya to not be the Master of Kurain. I just never thought she'd kill her own daughter to do it, though..." He stared off into space. I realized then I rarely saw Mr. Wright afraid. I have seen him nervous, like around Franziska when she is mad or when he wanted to avoid talking about something, but never afraid. He was only afraid when Maya or Trucy were in danger. Bad danger. I had a sudden urge to comfort my boss.

"She'll be okay," I said, trying to sound convincing. It came out more of a wish than a conviction.

"You don't know that," Mr. Wright muttered, avoiding eye contact. I thought back to when Trucy and I (and some other people, but they aren't important at the moment) were watching Gil Tee's trial. Trucy made me promise to protect Maya and Mr. Wright. '_They're the closest I have to family, too,' _I told her. I snapped my fingers, forcing him to look me in the eye.

"She'll be okay," I repeated, this time confidently. "I promise." Mr. Wright seemed surprised.

"Why?" He asked, somewhat curiously.

"Because I promised Trucy I'd protect you both. And you don't want to make a magician mad," I smiled absentmindedly, remembering Trucy's words. For a split second, I thought I saw the ghost of a smile on Mr. Wright's face. It must have been my imagination. "You have to tell Maya you- We- know about the trial," I said. "If you just suddenly go into over protective boyfriend mode without telling her, she'll get mad." Mr. Wright muttered a weak objection to the boyfriend comment. "You know we have to tell her," I continued, ignoring him. He hesitated for a moment, then sighed.

"You're right, Apollo," He admitted, before turning around and left the roof. I followed, and we walked in silence.

--

"Maya," Mr. Wright started. The black haired woman looked up from the newspaper she was reading at the kitchen table. Larry was asleep on the couch, Franziska and Vera had left, and Trucy was practicing magic in her room. Maya smiled sheepishly up at him. "We need to talk."

"Yeah, Nick?" She asked. She was still ashamed of herself for keeping Iris's death from him. Her eyes darted to me, as if telling me to scram.

"Apollo's apart of this," He told her, catching her looking at me. Maya looked between the two of us, then frowned.

"I'm going to get questioned by two human lie-detector lawyers, aren't I?" She asked, sighing. Mr. Wright and I nodded our heads in unison. "Well, I guess I deserve it. Go ahead. Ask." She waved her hand at us.

"I sent Apollo to talk to Diego," Mr. Wright started. Maya looked between us again, a little bit angry. "He told him everything."

"Everything?" Maya asked, face-falling. I nodded.

"Everything."

"Why didn't you tell me she's trying to kill you?" Mr. Wright asked, his voice pleading. Maya looked away, completely ashamed of herself.

"I... I... I..." She sighed, unable to find the words to explain why. "You lost your job, and had a daughter to take care of. How was I supposed to tell you your old girlfriend was murdered because a crazy bitch was planning on killing me?" She responded. "Nick, I know I screwed up... But I want to make it up!" She exclaimed, her attitude suddenly changing. Before, she was sad and shameful. Now, she seemed determined. "I think I know how!" Mr. Wright raised his eyebrows, as if asking, 'really?' "The court video- There was a court video! It wasn't made public because of the whole... Morgan killing herself thing... But it exists!" She yelled, eyes slightly frantic. "I want you to know the whole story if you know about it!" She grabbed his arm and started pulling him towards the door. "I think it's somewhere in the courthouse!"

"Maya, hold on!" Mr. Wright commanded. She let go of his arm and frowned. "I have to tell Trucy we're leaving and-"

"Apollo can do it!" Maya exclaimed, once again dragging his arm. This time she got him all the way out the door before he stopped.

"Make her dinner if we don't get back by seven, Apollo!" He called out before the door slammed shut behind him. Larry stirred on the couch.

"Hug, what happened?" He asked, sitting up and rubbing his head. Hangover, baby.

"Maya and Mr. Wright are off to find a videotape," I informed him. Larry shrugged.

"What type of video tape? Porn?"

--

"B.S.," Trucy said the moment I put my card onto the pile. It had been a few hours since Mr. Wright and Maya left to find the video tape, and now Trucy, a hung-over Larry, and I were playing the card game Bullshit, or B.S. to people who preferred to not curse. The point of the game was to put the cards in order face down, from two to the ace, taking turns. The first person could put down as many of one card, like two sevens or three eights- as they had. If they didn't have the card, or wanted to put in more cards, they could lie. A person caught lying had to take the whole pile. However, if someone accused another of lying and they didn't, the accuser took the pile. Whoever had no cards left first won.

I cursed quietly as I took the deck. So far, she was kicking both mine and Larry's asses. I was the human lie detector, why was I loosing?!

"Two Kings..." Larry pinched his nose as he slid the cards onto the now empty place where the pile went. I analyzed him.

"B.S.!" I declared, seeing his eyes twitch. I turned over the two cards- Both Kings. "Dammit!" Trucy giggled.

"Silly Polly..." She laughed. "This is an art, not a science. A person can twitch without lying. I play this game all the time at school, and I used to always laugh when I lied, so I kept getting caught. Then I started laughing when I told the truth, too, and I screwed up other people. Now no one can tell when I lie in this game!" Trucy shared her story, giggling the whole way through. I rolled my eyes. Larry massaged his temples, muttering something about 'playing cards with Nick.'

"I'm tired of this game!" I declared as Trucy slipped her last card onto the blank spot and claimed it to be one Ace. I went into the kitchen and started to heat up some instant ramen. Ten minutes later, after the three of us were sitting around the table eating the ramen and gagging on Mr. Wright's grapefruit flavored coffee, Maya and Mr. Wright came back. Once the day was over and Trucy was in her room for the night, they popped a disk into Mr. Wright's computer.

"Are you sure this has the video?" I asked, uncertain. Larry was once again passed out on the agency couch.

"I'm sure, I'm sure!" Maya said, before something popped up on the screen. It was a file, with several options. She clicked the button saying "Show video," and we all sat back.

--

_Four Years Ago..._

"Wow, I haven't been this nervous in years..." Maya said, looking around the defendant's lobby. "And I'm not even on trial this time..." She walked around aimlessly until a man she knew very well finally appeared. Diego Armando stood there, donning his orange prisoner clothes. "Diego!" Maya exclaimed, a slight portion of her nervousness melting away. He looked up at her, his mask no longer scaring her.

"Hey, Kitten," He smiled, then drank from the coffee mug he held in his hand. Maya looked at the mug.

"How do you get coffee in jail?" She asked, warily. He shrugged.

"Special privileges. Same reason I got a belt. Look where that got me."

--

_Author's_ _Note_: You will finally see the trial! Third person, though. Also, I put in my favorite card game here. (I got Trucy's little story from personal experience. I love screwing with my friend who wants to be a lawyer. She can never know when I'm lying or not because I act like I'm lying whenever I tell the truth and vise versa.) I love writing for Larry very much, by the way.


	28. Damn prettyboy prosecutor

_Author's Note_: Gah! Sorry it took so long! I wanted to have it up Saturday, but I couldn't get on the computer. Yesterday I was up all night (thanks to a mild case of insomnia and a candy bar at eleven P.M.) writing most of this, but I lost the ending because fanfiction logged me out after a while and I didn't get the chance to save. Sorry again.

I don't own squat.

--

Maya sighed and shook her head as Diego chugged the rest of his coffee.

"It'll be a long trial, Diego. Don't drink it all at once," She warned him. He shrugged indifferently.

"I can get more during the trial." He stated simply. Maya sighed, remembering how mugs of coffee would fly out to him during the trials, their origin a mystery. Was that even legal, to have coffee appear out of nowhere in a trail, anyway? And where the hell did they come from?

"..." Maya shook her head, ridding herself of the other stupid questions she would think about because of his damn coffee. "We have more important issues than coffee at the moment-"

"-Very few things are more important than my morning coffee-" Diego cut Maya off, only for her to cut him off, too.

"-And being accused of my cousin's murder is one of them!" She said forcefully, glaring at him as if to say '_I dare you._' Diego dutifully shut up about coffee. For the moment, at least. "Now look, I know officially you are your own attorney here, but I intend to help as much as possible. I just passed law school, and I'm going to take the Bar Exam soon and if I can think of anything you can't, don't think I'm not making sure the judge doesn't know and- Why the hell are you grinning like that?" Maya frowned and crossed her arms over her chest as Diego smirked.

"You sound just like my Kitten right now," He said, ruffling her bangs. Maya growled.

"Do that again and I have no problem harming you," She threatened.

"Um... Did I come at a bad time?" A third voice asked from behind Maya. She whipped her head around to see one Marilyn Fey, her second or third cousin. She wore the average acolyte clothing, and had no specific traits that set her apart from the rest of the Feys. She was an okay channeler, she was quiet, had a plain face and long black hair, and was a little taller than Maya. She was also a push-over. Maya smiled friendly. She didn't know Marilyn too well, but she was grateful she'd show up to watch this... Despite the bleak circumstances.

"Marilyn! How nice of you to come!" Maya hugged the other black haired woman. "What are you doing here?" She asked, pulling away. Maya failed to notice how tense Marilyn suddenly became, as Diego stood by silently watching.

"I... I wanted to see the results, Maya. Morgan said I aught to come- She said it'd be quite the show..."

"Morgan told you that?" Diego asked, his voice emotionless. Marilyn nodded, not sure she liked where this was going. She couldn't see him scrutinizing her under the mask. Suddenly, the bailiff started yelling about the trial starting soon.

"I have to go get a seat," Marilyn told Maya. Nodding to each other, Marilyn walked into the courtroom. Diego stared into the bottom of his mug, looking for a single drop of coffee left before he moved on to the next mug.

"Morgan's involved," He said, giving up on the mug as they walked into the court. Maya looked straight ahead of them as she replied.

"We already knew that. She's the A-hole prosecutor's so called 'Star Witness.' I haven't met him yet, but I can already tell I'm gonna hate him," She said, before sitting next the Diego at the Defense's table. She studied it quickly and quietly before staring at the empty Prosecutor's table. It all seemed so foreign now... The courtroom, the table, had they switched it all out during the last four years?

"You know what I mean by 'involved,' Kitten," Diego said, choosing to ignore the part about the prosecutor for the moment. Maya sighed and looked at him.

"Yeah, I know what you mean by 'involved'... I just don't want to believe it..." She trailed off, looking down at the table. She wished Nick was there. She couldn't tell him Iris died. She just couldn't. Maya thought out the whole conversation, and even called him up. She didn't plan on beating around the bush- The first four words she would say on the phone were 'Nick, Iris was murdered.' She'd then go into detail and try to assure him every thing would be okay. However, when she called, she could only say the first two words before her voice trailed off. He asked what happened, and she lied. Maya lied. To Nick. She said Iris was fine, and then he launched into some story about how weird she acted the day before when he and Trucy visited. He said Iris hated him. Maya sighed, trying to push Nick's distressed voice from the phone out of her head. There was no way she could tell him the truth now... She had to protect him.

"Kitten?" Diego asked, waving his free hand in front of her face. He long since found a new, full mug of coffee. Maya snapped back into reality. "Kitten, are you alright?"

"Stop calling me Kitten," She demanded suddenly. Diego frowned in surprise. "I'm not Mia."

"I know you're not," He drank from his coffee.

"Then why do you call me-"

"Because I miss her," He cut her off again. "And you remind me of her..." Maya frowned.

"But I'm not Mia!" She insisted. "And you know it!" Diego drained his mug of coffee and sighed.

"I know, Maya. I know..." She noticed how quiet he suddenly became, and how grave the visible part of his face looked. He was probably remembering Mia.

"Do you still have the seventeen cup limit?" Maya asked jokingly, trying to cheer him up.

"Dropped that. I'm not a prosecutor anymore. Now my limit is ninety-nine as a defendant."

"Your caffeine intake scares me."

"Says the girl who runs a school teaching people how to talk to ghosts."

"Touché, Diego," Maya chuckled. "Touché."

--

"Where the hell is that damn pretty-boy dirty prosecutor?" Maya asked crossly. "The Judge'll be here soon!" Diego sighed.

"You haven't even met him yet, have you?" He asked. Maya shook her head. "Then how do you know he's a 'damn pretty-boy dirty prosecutor'?"

"Because, Diego," Maya started, holding up one finger. "This is the guy who got Nick disbarred. Nick would never ever **_ever_**in a million years ever falsify evidence, so that only leaves the damn pretty-boy. I've seen pictures of this guy, and at first I thought he was just a really flat-chested girl with his hair, jewelry, purple clothing, and singing career-"

"Singing career?"

"Yes. He's apparently some big hit with the teenyboppers and horny teenage girls," Maya said dryly, rolling her eyes. "And Gumshoe says he randomly bursts into long air guitar sessions during court, so I hope you brought a book or something." Diego laughed.

"You have a grudge against this guy for getting your boyfriend fired, don't you?" He teased. Maya's cheeks flared a bright red color, but he couldn't see it that well.

"Nick is not my boyfriend!" She said, a little bit too defensively.

"You know, I think that was the first time you denied it," Diego commented, drinking from his coffee.

"Because he's usually the one to deny it!"

"What, you take turns denying it?"

"It's not denying when you're telling the truth!"

"But you just said he denied it for you-"

"Diego, would you kindly shut up?" Maya cut him off. He just smirked and drank some more coffee. She rolled her eyes, and then looked towards the doors as they opened. "Here comes the Judge," She warned him. They both stopped bickering as the Judge took a seat. However, it wasn't the usual judge. This man had blond hair and no mustache, unlike the bald-headed, grey beard-and-mustached judge Maya knew. Well, at least this judge also had a beard.

"Will the prosecution please give its opening statement?" He asked. All eyes fell on the empty prosecution table. "Ay, no prosecution? I don't like that. Is the jury ready to reach a verdict-"

"**_OBJECTION_**!" A European voice yelled. All eyes fell on the handsome, purple-clad man slowly strutting down the courtroom. "I am here, Herr Judge, the party may start."

--

_Author's Note_: As I have stated before, I am not particularly fond of Klavier. But that's not the reason I make Maya hate him. I'm positive she would hate him in the games, despite her love of famous people. She's blame him for Phoenix loosing his job. And this is before everyone knew Kristoph did it, so she'd have no reason to think other wise.


	29. YOU'RE GOING DOWN, PAL!

_Author's Note_: Sorry it took forever! I tried making this on longer, though. Almost two-thousand words without the author's notes.

I don't own anything. Well, eSell, maybe.

--

Klavier stood behind the prosecution table, smirking wildly. His long blond hair reached a bit past his shoulder, and his eyes were hidden behind a pair of designer sunglasses. He had a large metal 'G' necklace which Maya would later refer to as 'Pretty Boy Bling,' along with a chain belt and several silver rings on each hand. He had an open purple suite jacket over a tight black button-up shirt, which had to be open down to the middle of his chest. He also wore tight purple pants, which flared out at the bottom, creating a bit of a baggy area near his boots. Maya growled immediately when he stopped strutting, surprising Diego a little.

"Hey, you know it would be sort of nice if you, ya know, got here on _time_," Maya spat at the blond man. He didn't seem the least bit fazed. "And button up your shirt. This is a court of law, _not_ a play-girl shoot." She scrutinized, causing Diego to have a silent fit of laughter. Maya was in full _'make_ _him_ _cry'_ mode, and was determined to blast apart the German singer. Whether it be by legitimate reasoning during the trial, or petty insults, it didn't really matter. Already, Diego was sure it would be a bit of column A and a lot of column B.

"Atchung, baby. I'm sorry, I had to fight off some fans," He smiled, peeking over his sun glasses at Maya. Behind his friendly tone and the amused twinkle in his eye, she could see that he didn't respect her. Bastard. "You see, dear Fraulein, they were a bit grabby. I had to drive my motorcycle to the closest designer store to get a new shirt and jacket. I had to put them on in the bathroom so they wouldn't get dirt or bugs on them from the ride here," Klavier paused to laugh. The judge laughed too, much to the Defense Team's dismay. Klavier wiped away a tear of laughter from his eye. "Ah, my old clothes are probably on eSell for a few million each at the moment!"

"Yeah, well, _I_ got attacked by a pissed off spirit and had to perform a complicated spirit severing technique this morning and yet _I'm_ still dressed properly and here on time," Maya deadpanned. "Not to mention there was a short hostage situation at the train station."

"Ay, a hostage situation? I'm not sure I like that," The judge said. Maya stared flabbergasted at him. Was he really that stupid?

"No one likes them, Your Honor," She stated, frowning. "Shouldn't you either decide if he gets penalized for being late or if we just start the trial?" She asked, amazed he could be distracted so easily. Yup, this would be a long trial.

"Oh, right. Prosecution, please state your case." Diego leaned towards Maya, frowning.

"Did all that _really_ happen to you?" He whispered, concerned. He noticed the ghost of a smile on her face.

"Well, when I said there was a _short_ _hostage_ _situation_, I mean I played 'cops and robbers' with a couple of short, younger relatives, and I had to get the other robbers out of jail, but they don't have to know that." Maya whispered back and enjoyed the smirk that popped up on Diego's face. She really was a kid at heart, he realized. Klavier cleared his throat.

"Atchung, here is what happened," He started, leaning against the wall. "Herr Armando here gets special privileges because he used to be both a defense attorney _and_ a prosecutor. One of these special privileges was a belt, to keep his pants from falling down." Diego couldn't help but roll his eyes, despite no one being able to see it. "Many times in prison, he proved to be particularly prone to violence, especially towards a Herr..." Klavier lifted a piece of paper closer to his eyes, to read the name. "Redd White." He paused, looking up to the judge.

"Well, Mr. Armadno? _Are_ you prone to violence towards a Herr Redd White?" He asked. Diego laughed.

"Well, I'd be _lying_ if I said I didn't give the little prick a reason to-"

"Your Honor, Redd White killed the love of his life," Maya cut Diego off, not liking where he was going. "He was in a coma for years, so that may have had adverse affects on his brain," She reasoned, trying to think of something other than _'revenge'_ as an excuse for torturing Redd White, even though Maya completely agreed with Diego. "There could be a medical reason for what he did to Redd White."

"My brain's fine, I just love to hear the little bastard cry himself to sleep-"

"Diego, you're _not_ helping yourself." Maya sighed, shaking her head. If he had this attitude the whole way through, he would definitely be found guilty. Suddenly, she heard laughing on the other side of the court room. Maya turned her attention- and a glare- towards the blond.

"I am sorry, but _which_ of you is the lawyer here?" He asked, still chuckling.

"I am," Diego said, putting his hand out and catching a cup of coffee sliding out of nowhere. Maya peered around him, trying to find the source of the coffee.

"I'm paralegal for the moment. Taking the Bar Exam next week," Maya said, still looking for how he got the coffee. Frowning, she turned to scowl at Klavier. He leaned over the table, trying to get a better look at her from across the room. She just scowled more.

"You look familiar, Fraulein. What is your name?" He asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Fey." She said tersely. "Maya Fey. I assume you know me from watching Nick's trials, before you wrongfully got him disbarred." She spat. Klavier straightened up, surprised.

"_Nick_?" He asked, brow furrowing. "Who is this _Nick_?"

"Phoenix Wright," She said coolly. A look of dawning realization came over Klavier's face.

"Ah, so _you_ are Herr Wright's assistant, the Mystik Fraulein, ja?" He exclaimed, pointing a finger at her. Then, he smiled charmingly. It made Maya want to vomit. "Now why, Mystik Fraulein, do you blame _me_ for your Freund's disbarment? _He_ was the one who forged evidence, not me."

"Nick would never forge anything. _Never_," Maya said in a dangerously low voice. It was then she realized the entire court was focusing on the conversation, Diego's trial long forgotten. "Can we please get back to the matter at hand? Prove Diego didn't kill my cousin and get this over with?" Maya said loudly, directing it at the judge, who snapped back to the trial.

"Er, yes. Mr. Gavin, please continue with stating the case."

"Ja. As we have established, the defendant, Herr Armando, is violent-"

"**_OBJECTION_**! I'm only violent towards White!"

"-And has a belt," Klavier continued, ignoring Diego's objection. "The very belt that was used to strangle the victim." He paused to allow the handful of people in the gallery to gasp. Under Maya's request, the trial was not open to the public. However, four people were allowed in, as guests of the witnesses. The 'guests of the witnesses' were Marilyn Fey, Maggey Byrde (Well, Maggey Gumshoe now,) her year old son, and another person Maya didn't know. "Herr Diego Armando must have gotten into an argument with the poor Fraulein, gotten angry, and _hung_ her." Klavier started to air guitar for about half a minute, with music playing out of nowhere. Diego was about to say something before the blond man continued talking. "I have forensic evidence and two reliable witnesses. _You_, my dear Herr Armando, have no alibi and a little fraulein who talks to dead people as a lawyer, who was trained by a dirty lawyer." He taunted. Diego could feel Maya fuming next to him. It had to be killing her to not start yelling at him. "I believe we all know who will be victorious, here."

"Okay, A: I didn't even _speak_ to Iris the day she was murdered, so how could we argue? B: One of your _'reliable_ witnesses' is a convicted murderer. Who also tried to frame the victim for murder. And C: I am my own lawyer, and I _don't_ loose to men who bleach their hair," Diego countered, drinking from his coffee mug.

"Wasn't the poor, deceased Fraulein your accomplice in the murder that put you both away? And didn't you both agree to let the Fraulein take the fall?"

"Yeah, but that was to save a life. Your oh-so-reliable witness tried to kill my adorable little assistant here so her job would be free for someone else," Diego shrugged, as if talking about the weather. "The whole ordeal would just confuse you. _Point_ is-"

"Can we get back to the trial?" Maya asked, not wanting to delve into Nick's last case. She shouldn't have gone back to Kurain after that case. Maybe, just maybe, he'd have kept his job if she was able to help him in the trial that day.

"Agreed," Klavier sighed, playing with his hair. "Anyway, we have established that the defendant is a convicted murderer, it was his belt used to kill the victim, he has violent tendencies," Diego was about to object to that again, but Maya's glare stopped him. The trial was getting de-railed from the case so easily. Why wasn't the judge reminding them to keep everything relevant to the case? "And there are two witnesses claiming he is the murderer. The first seeing a fight between them, and the second seeing the actual murder." Klavier smiled, finally finishing the Prosecution's stance.

"I don't like this. I think I have reached a verdict. I find the defendant-" The judge started, but was cut off by Diego while Maya was once again astounded by his stupidity and tendency for hasty decisions. Seriously, at least the normal judge let things take its course! She really didn't like this Canadian Judge, Maya decided. When she was a lawyer, she had to make sure to get the normal judge for her cases. Good old bald, grey-bearded judge.

"_**OBJECTION**_!" Diego yelled exasperatedly. "Your Honor, the trial hasn't even _started_. Let me prove my innocence before you slam your little gavel and close this case on yet another senseless slaughtering," He said coolly, drinking his coffee.

"I'm not sure I like your attitude, but all right. Would the Prosecution call its first witness?"

"Atchung, baby. Ja, would the rockin' Detective Gumshoe please make your way to the stand?" Klavier exclaimed, music once again playing out of nowhere. Maya groaned as the detective made his way to the stand, waving merrily to his wife in the gallery. "Name. Occupation. _Now_."

"I'm Detective Dick Gumshoe, pal!" He exclaimed, his happy attitude inappropriate for the setting. "I'm the head homicide detective, and this is my last case!"

"Really, Detective?" Maya couldn't help but ask. Gumshoe nodded furiously.

"Yeah, Topknot. Me an' Maggey are starting our own restaurant! Changing that old place, _Tres_ _Bein_, pal!" He grinned, explaining why he was leaving the force.

"Congrats. I always knew you weren't as much of an idiot as I thought you were," Diego chuckled.

"Thank you-"

"_Detective_!" Klavier yelled harshly. "Exchange pleasantries later, it is time for your testimony."

"Oh, right, pal. YOU TWO ARE GOIG DOWN!" He pointed at Diego and Maya, both of whom seriously doubting him. "I have evidence you killed Iris, pal!"

--

_Author's_ _Note_: Ug, I feel like they're all out of character. Oh, well. Not a lot happened this chapter (other than Maya and Diego verbally abusing Klavier on occasion) but things'll pick up next chapter.


	30. Author's Note

Author's Note Chapter

I'm so sorry! I hate it when people have chapters like this, but I have to.

I've been real busy lately and I've got writer's block for this story. I'm sorry. I moved the night before I started high school a little over a week ago, there have been some health issues in my family, and I have horrible social skills, so making new friends in my new town isn't exactly easy. Needless to say, I've been a little bit distracted from fanfiction writing.

I apologies for not updating _Turnabout Justice_ in a long time. I really intend to finish it, I do. I'm not making any promises, but I believe I should get up a chapter soon enough.

Again, sorry. I thank everyone who's still reading this story, you guys are the best.


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